One's Perseverance
by Viperhat
Summary: When Fairy Tails favourite ice mage is kidnapped for many years they are left in despair for a long time. Mirajane feels the worst however as her parting words with Gray were less than pleasant. Will Gray ever make it back home? If he does then just how much has he changed? GrayMi, NaLu and other ships included. Follows both Gray and Fairy Tail and their STORY. Sidestory: 1 of TOI
1. Chapter: 1

What is up everyone? What is down everyone? What is all around everyone?

The answer is stupidity… Trust me…

But all joking and intros aside, welcome to the first side story 'One's perseverance'. The first side story of many whilst we embark on our TOI journey. Do not worry though, TOI will take precedence over any side story I make.

But I am looking forward to writing this just as much as I am TOI.

Now as this is a side story, I will not hold the pairings back.

The ships for this are the following:

1\. Gray x Mirajane (GrayMi)

2\. Natsu x Lucy (NaLu)

3\. Gajeel x Levy (GaLe)

The rest will be barely even noticed but the one that will be focussed on is Gray x Mirajane…

Yes I know, it is rare, but it is so cool.

Lastly, this starts when Natsu, Gray and others are still kids. Still around 11 to 12 years of age.

But anyway…

LETS READ!

==)(-)(-)(-)(==

The Fairy Tail guild was known as the strongest guild in all of Fiore, the mages were strong, the jobs they took were almost always seen through to the end and the general positivity the mages and the guild gave to the public of Magnolia were all known throughout the entirety of the country.

Even the harrowing jobs that were taken on by the mages were always completed and even with injuries they always seemed to just smile most of the time.

Sadly, all good things needed to either end or stop and take a breath before starting again.

Today was one of THOSE days of course…

It was a day like any other, The two resident rivals Gray and Natsu were indulging in one of their usual brawls, this being started because Natsu had accidentally burped too loudly near the ice mage. Cana was looking at the glass of rum in Macao's hand longingly, wishing that she was old enough too snatch it and gulp it down.

Laxus was talking with the new girl Evergreen about her magic and why she decided to join the infamous guild. To which she whispered in his ear her answer.

And Erza was sitting down, enjoying her slice of cheesecake and was currently oblivious too the fight that was taking place just a few feet from her table.

However everyone could tell that the atmosphere was a tad more sombre than usual as of late. Unfortunately, the Strauss siblings had recently lost their little sister Lisanna too Elfman's failed attempt at controlling one of his take-over demon's, dubbed 'The beast'. He and Mirajane were taking it hard, Elfman felt awful for effectively killing his own sister. He knew that the choice he made had risks but he still chose to try it anyway.

He had never regretted anything in his life so much…

Mira wasn't faring any better, she didn't blame her brother but losing her sister made her realise just how much she had meant to her, she had never realise just how important she was to her and her brother until that faithful moment.

Naturally, Cana had tried to give the two comfort but she couldn't even get through to either of them. Makarov didn't have much luck, but he did manage to calm the two down after a while a few weeks ago.

Erza had even put aside her rivalry with the girl to give her condolences.

Gray had recently helped Erza when he had found her by the river and he saw immediate changes after his intervention. But Mirajane and Elfman's wounds were much more fresh, he wasn't really good with words anyway.

Eitherway, he was caught up in helping Natsu in his grief at the moment. Even if the dragon slayer didn't know or show it, he was both grateful for his fr-enemies distraction.

The ice mage knew how to deal with loss, better than most at the guild. No one knew but he had gone through the emotion twice and he had survived both times. But they were both thanks to his late master Ur and Fairy Tail itself.

But still, he was abysmal at helping someone in grief…

All of a sudden Makarov burst out of his office, the look of greed on his wrinkled features.

"Alright brats!" he yelled eagerly. "I have some big news for you all!" He stopped to collect himself before continuing on. "I just got a call from Crocus, they are in need of three powerful mages to assist them in catching a group of powerful mages that have been kidnapping many people around Fiore."

The guild listened, excited grins and smirks on everyone's features…

"The job requires teamwork. Even if Laxus is one of our best he does his best on his own so I am ruling him out!"

The guild members nodded in understanding…

"The next requirement" He said. "Is a mage who specialises in ice, therefore Gray you will be going along with the two mages of my choice."

The ice mage grinned, excitement clearly on his face.

"The final requirement is patience… The group have been described as slow and very sneaky, but when you find them they will be immensely difficult to beat."

Everyone looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Then he looked up with a gleam in his eyes.

"That is why I am choosing Erza and Mirajane to go along with Gray to crocus!"

"WHAAAAAAAA!?"

Everyone fell over in shock, except Natsu who was laughing at Gray's now pale face. The two girls never got along! And with Gray being there meant that he would be paste by the end of the job.

Laxus looked over towards the frozen ice mage (Ha pun!) and smirked sympathetically. "If it is any comfort, I am hoping for you're safe return."

Gray looked at him. "Y-Yeah… I hope for that too… But Mira? And Erza? With me and constantly fighting? I don't stand a chance!"

'Help me…' His mind whined pleadingly.

Makarov coughed and stopped the girls from glaring at eachother, the other promptly looked at him.

"The group are made up of 12 individuals. Their magic has not been discovered yet except for two. One uses sand magic whilst the other uses weakness magic. Do not expect an easy fight." The silence that was awaiting to engulf the guild finally had its chance. Everyone in the guild looked at the three mages envy, but also with slight worry.

Makarov only gave these warnings when he knew that the assailants his children were going against were horrifyingly strong. They all new why Erza and Mirajane would've been chosen. But the one that confused most of the members was Gray. Sure, he was a strong mage, some of the members believe him to be stronger than his rival even.

Much too Natsu's annoyance…

But only some thought that and Gray didn't have the body augmentation type of magic like Erza and Mira did, He could created anything his mind could think up, but that didn't help make one of his punches inhumanly strong like Natsu or Elfman.

It just seemed odd. But then again the ice mage had more than just physical strength going for him. The guild knew that Gray was quick thinking and very clever in battle. He may not be as tenacious as his rival or the two girls he was going with but as much as some people hated to admit it, Gray didn't have too many disadvantages on the battlefield.

Suddenly; Erza's voice boomed across the silent guildhall, effectively washing away the silence. "You two heard the master, prepare yourselves and let's meet at the station in fifteen minutes!" She looked at Gray and then Mira, of course she smiled at Gray and glared at the take-over mage.

Gray nodded and began to walk out of the guild briskly whilst Mirajane slightly before realising that she had almost done what the Scarlet girl told her to do.

And she was good enough to regain some dignity before it was completely lost forever…

"Don't tell me what to do eye-patch!" She shouted.

"Don't talk to me like that you flat chested wench!" Erza replied hotly.

"You wanna go!?"

"Bring it!"

The other guild members literally jumped out of both girls way, unwilling too lose their life just yet. The two mages collided with eachother and began too both trade blows and insults towards one another whilst Makarov looked on with a face-palm.

But if this was their way of 'preparing' then he would not intervene…

==)(-)(-)(-)(==

"Okay, so spare clothes in this one and books in this one. No, take that out, put that their instead. There we go." Gray had been rambling to himself for the last few minutes as he sorted out what went where.

It was something he usually did when he was on a day or two long mission. Obviously he had never been on a big mission like this before but he had already packed and he felt like he wasn't missing anything.

It was exhausting, but very accomplishing afterwards however…

But he didn't have time to revel in his accomplishment as he remembered about getting to the station on time. He didn't want Erza to skin him alive just for being a few seconds late. And she would do it too.

He shuddered before quickly picking his cases up and rushing towards his front door and began too rush to the station. He he at the most seven minutes to spare so he was sure he could make on time if he ran.

It was very tiring however…

After he reached the station just in the nick of time he saw Erza standing around, obviously waiting for him and her lifelong rival to show up…

He was surprised to see her at the station at this time again, like when they went on their first mission together Erza was already their before anyone else.

'How does she do it?' Gray thought with confusion.

Before he could come to a conclusion however, he was shoved roughly to the side by Mirajane. She didn't seem very happy, granted he knew why. But it was slightly different. She looked like she was going to explode.

What happened?…

Going against his better judgement, he called out to her. "You alright Mira? You seem a bit more tense over their?"

The take-over mage whirled around and glared at him. "Shut it Nakey!"

Usually Gray would be fairly scared of her attitude, but her tone held malice behind it. She meant it. However before he could retort Erza came over to the duo and sternly motioned for them to follow her.

Gray was okay with the usual insults he and others shared on a day to day basis since they were never meant to hurt him or the others. But if Natsu had meant the to hurt him via insults like Mirajane just did then he would not put up with it. Especially when he was trying to be nice.

But he let Mirajane off the hook, she had lost her sister a month ago so he could understand not wanting to talk.

But he knew loss. He did… And he didn't want to be mistaken for not knowing otherwise…

"You two quit it. Our train is going to arrive in two minutes or less and I do not want to miss it just because you two cannot get along." Her voice reached them but the only action of compliance she got was from the ice mage nodding slightly and walking past her towards the railway.

He had seen the train arriving.

"It's ours..." He called out to the others. Who came walking over to him to see for themselves.

He was right.

==)(-)(-)(-)(==

"So… What's our plan of attack Erza?" The ice mage asked, sitting on the opposite side of the two girls. Mirajane was currently looking out of the window with a bitter-sweet look on her face.

The scenery was nice, but the two knew that it wasn't what she was thinking about…

Erza looked at Gray, sitting up straight as they travelled through the country side. "We get too Crocus, then we find the contractor and get the details of our mission, then we get as much knowledge on the mages as we can and then we start looking for them."

He thought it over and it seemed fairly standard. Of course this was most likely going to be easier said than done but it should be doable. If not then bugger.

"Sure easy enough-"

"Do not under-estimate our enemy Gray." Warned the Titania. "If the master was worried enough to give us multiple warnings about this group then we must be extra careful and vigilant. Any mistake could cost us dearly."

He knew exactly what she meant by that…

But one scenario kept on playing in his head, one that was missed out on Erza's part.

"What if we need too take drastic measures?" He asked curiously. Erza looked confused for her part.

"W-What do you mean?"

He made her stutter, he quickly elaborated his point as to keep her from realising his feat. "I mean, say we come across the group and we have no choice but to fight? Or what if one or two of us are the only ones there TO fight? That is a possibility and gramps was obviously wary about these guys so doesn't that mean that they are powerful enough to just launch a flat out attack on us whilst we are patrol? Or one of us when we are doing something?"

Erza took everything he said into account and gave her answer a minute later. "It won't come too that, just keep to the plan and we should be fine… Don't worry too much, we need you for some reason and I want you at you're best."

Now whilst Erza was very powerful and intelligent, she was still just a kid, a kid with lots to learn still. But it would be this tiny lapse in her judgement that would send her a many others into a downward spiral for years to come.

"Shut it you two, I need some rest now!" Mirajane barked, obviously annoyed at their strategic discussion. Erza was about to retort with an insult but Gray gave her a pleading look and for once she listened decided to move over to his side for the next few hours before she too started to drift off onto Grays shoulder.

He followed soon after.

And Crocus was officially four more hours away.

But when they got there, they would later regret ever going…

==)(-)(-)(-)(==

Chapter one complete, an unknown amount more yet too come.

The same applies for TOI…

But what did you all think of this? I personally think that The Ripple Effect and Trials Of Ice had better starts but then again this is a side story.

But tell me what you think? And can you guess who the group of mages are? If not then you may or may not be in for a treat.

TRIVIA TIME!

1: What do YOU want for christmas?

I am kind of hoping for a new guitar or an Xbox one, I just prefer gameplay over graphics for those who are wondering. I do not like the playstation anymore.

2: Tits or ass? JUST KIDDING!

(The real number 2): What film or piece of media has made you cry the most?

For me it is the green mile. It got a tiny bit but after the first I can hold it back. But if I need a piece of acting to be done with tears I just remember John Coffey and how sad he was in it and I can channel it form there on.

3: If you could add a character to Fairy tail who would you add and why?

Well probably some OP guy/Girl just so Natsu doesn't get all the credit for no reason.

Thanks for reading, Leave a review and tell me what you liked and disliked. I really do appreciate it.

Also if you think anything I make if worth it, then spread the word to those you think would be interested. I like too give you guys the best experience I can and with people telling me what was good and what was bad goes a long way to making this experience good for both you and me.

So now that the shameless self promotion is out of the way, I have too things left to say.

Stay cool,

-viperhat

P.S. CHRYSANTHEMUM! It is a word! XD


	2. Chapter: 2

Earth too fanfic, earth too fanfic…

What is going on guys and girls! It is I, Viperhat! Back to making another O'sP chapter!

You guys don't know how much I have been itching to make another chapter of this. It has been like an annoying rash you are going insane over.

 **Now, I thought I would answer some questions from the first chapter, I re-read it and I became confused too. So here we go.**

 **1: Am I using an alternate timeline?**

 **Yes, I need it to be different so I can drive this story forward. Natsu and co. are 16 or older when Lisanna died I presume so it wouldn't have worked if I used the full canon timeline.**

 **2: Are the assailants the spriggan twelve?**

 **Maybe, maybe not, maybe yes and no. I won't say any of them are true.**

So, now that it out of the way…

LETS READ!

==)(-)(-)(-)(==

A few minutes after the train arrived in Crocus with a sudden, violent lurch. Throwing the sleeping trio off of there seats and into a bundle of sprawled out limbs and hair.

Unfortunately, the two girls didn't take kindly to being slammed into eachother and vehemently expressed this by using a mixture of yelling and head collisions. The poor ice mage found himself pinned to the ground by the legs of his terrifying team-mates.

Yup… he was sooo dead…

"Who said you were allowed to touch me!?" He heard Mirajane shout at the redhead. Making him quiver again.

"Yeah?" Erza started. "And WHO said that YOU were allowed to touch me huh!?"

As the two continued too butt heads Gray realised that they only had a certain amount of time before the train would violently pull out of Crocus, they needed to get off quickly or they would end up spending the next two days walking on foot to the big city.

And with those two…

That one awful thought of being murdered by his best friend and fr-enemy (more enemy) during one of there… 'Disagreements' Gave him a sudden burst of strength and inspiration to escape the train in time. He pushed himself off of the ground despite the two above him before he grabbed them by the upper arms and dragging them towards the doors.

That were closing ever so slowly…

'NOOOOO!' His mind screamed at him as the door became more narrow, teasing and mocking him with every covered inch. He didn't want to be killed! He wanted to live! He was too god-damn young and beautiful to die! 

Luckily, he was quick enough to get himself and the other two through the door JUST in time, throwing the girls through it before acrobatically leaping in-between the closing doors and landing perfectly on his feet in front of Erza and Mira.

They however, were less than impressed with his little stunt, so little in fact that the train slowly pulling out seconds later didn't even register to them.

And Gray instantly felt a painful future looming over him… Even the dull grey winter sky looked scared of the killing intent emanating from the girls. And he didn't blame it.

But the sky wasn't the thing they were going to vent there frustrations on…

As the shadow of Erza loomed over him, he had immense trouble looking up as he saw her enraged face, he wasn't even going to torture himself by looking over towards Mira.

He was sure she looked like an angry ass demon, he didn't need to imagine too much to accurately describe it…

He felt Erza whack him hard on the head, which both knocked him flat on his face and made him emit the most girlie yelp yet.

Erza grabbed a tuft of Gray's raven locks and hastily hoisted him up to her eye-level, since he was slightly taller than her she had too keep a tight grip on him as her eyes tried to burn a scorching hole in her friends head.

She was about to scold and threaten him with castration when Mirajane rushed past her vision and grabbed Gray by the neck, forcing him back onto the ground as she started to pound mercilessly on his face. Erza was somewhat surprised that his nose didn't break from the punches he was receiving.

"DON'T YOU EVER GRAB ME AGAIN YOU PERVERTED LOSER!" she shouted as she bashed his face in. "I'M GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

The ice mage held his pained screams back as he grabbed Mira's wrists and pushed her of of him. He got back up and spat some blood out and onto the snowy ground. He was more furious, all previous fear gone without a trace as he glared angrily at his team-mate.

He rubbed his bruising face tenderly, what had he done to deserve that!? All he did was save them from walking here because of her and Erza's stupidity and sure, he expected Erza too teach him a 'tiny' lesson and give him some speech that made her look like a hypocrite.

But that was uncalled for… He had been nothing but nice to her during her and Elfman's mourning but all she had done too him was put him down, beat him up harder than usual or just flat out ignore or insult him!

And he had had enough...

The angry take-over mage lunged for him again, but this time he didn't give her the chance to hit him as he ducked under her arm and stuck his foot out, tripping her over immediately.

He expected Erza too knock the two of them out and he was surprised when she rushed too restrain her, trapping Mira's arms under her knee and pushing her head into the ground, not enough to hurt her but enough to keep her in her place.

But even with her restrained and under control for that period of time, with her temporarily pacified, he was still angry and hurt over the previous events. He had enough of her unnecessary abuse of him. Why did she hate him so much?!

Walking over, her ignored the glare sent to him by Erza and stormed in front of Mirajane, kneeling down and giving her scolding look.

"I want to know Mira..." he started but was cut off by the take-over mage.

"Shut up!" She spat, still struggling against the red head. "I have nothing to say to you Nakey."

He ignored that comment… "Oh I think you do." He retorted hotly.

"Leave me alone!"

"No." He raised his voice slightly. "I am not taking your shit any longer Mirajane! What have I done to deserve this treatment from you!?" He asked, his eyes looking hurt. "I have done nothing to you, I have tried my best to be nice to you as you and your brother need your friends now more than ever. But I am not your bloody punching bag!" He started out slow and somewhat quiet, then he got louder and louder until he had found himself almost shouting.

He could just about see Erza looking at him with slight shock. Clearly not used to hearing him talk back with such anger. The mage under her if anything more angry.

"No, you are just some useless annoying punk who strips and pisses everyone off with your mere putrid presence!" She spit at him hatefully. "You are weak and pathetic! I bet everyone was surprised by the old man's choice when he picked one of the weakest mages in our guild!"

Gray's eyes widened when she said this. His breathing hitched and his hands clenched into fists as she continued to say the most toxic thing to him… She really hated him this much? Why?

Why!?

"Mira, that's enough." Erza tried to stop her, only for her order to fall on deaf ears. "You're going to far!"

She was once again, ignored...

Then she said the one thing that destroyed Gray, both inside and out.

"Hell! I bet that the only reason you are in the guild is because you're parents kicked you out In disgust!" She was too angry to notice Gray's eyes moisten. "Who would want such a weak, pathetic and useless failure for a son!?"

It was silent for the next few seconds. The blowing wind became more apparent and the other noises of Winter such as the crunching of the snow became amplified as the events that took place died down. The lack of people became very apparent for the three kids.

Mirajane's anger quickly vanished and her memory made her remember her horrible words and her she quickly looked up to Gray with widened eyes, as did Erza.

The two girls saw him standing still and rigid, looking at Mira with eyes that were threatening too spill over with tears at any moment. His lithe form shaking violently, the worst thing about it was the fact that it wasn't from the cold.

Finding her voice, Mirajane realised that she needed to apologise for her outburst.

"Gray..." She said but unfortunately the ice mage started to take steps back, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You know… nothing about me..." He spoke quietly that the two S-class mages struggled to even hear the shake in his voice.

The back-steps became larger and larger and his face twisted angrily.

"YOU KNOW FUCK ALL ABOUT ME!" Was his last words before he turned around and took off towards the massive forest near Crocus' coast.

"N-NO! Gray come back!" She heard the Titania scream, but it was too late. Gray had run off.

Mirajane, now on her feet looked over at Erza and was surprised too see her face contort to a mixture of worry and anger.

An anger, as she quickly found out, was aimed at her. Through the form of a fist.

She didn't even register what had happened until her back hit the snowy floor again. She looked up to see the enraged face of Erza and for once she gulped. She had never seen her this scared and angry before.

"You stupid bint!" She yelled at the floored girl. "How dare you! He had done nothing to deserve such evil treatment! He has been trying so hard and you seem to hate him more than realise just how great of a boy she is!"

The white haired girl just looked on in shock, never before had she heard Erza speak so passionately about Gray. Sure she gave compliments but never had she spoke how she truly felt about him. It made her feel even worse.

"I'm sorry..."

"Oh! You are, are you!?" The searing tone she took with her made her flinch. "Well, im not the one who has run away into the forest because of you're heartless words!"

She still tried to justify her actions, knowing it wouldn't ease her pain. "he still doesn't have the right t-"

"To save the two day walk!? Yes how dare he!" Erza spat, sarcasm lacing her tongue which caught her off guard again.

She had nothing left… All she could do was look down from her fr-enemies angry gaze as she let her thoughts drift over to the boy she had just hurt more than she cared too know.

The thing she had said to him… She couldn't even bare to bring her own family ties up in a conversation and now was the first time that she realised that probably no one knew about Grays parents. For all she knew the pair that brought him into the world were long dead… Or worse.

She inwardly shuddered, had she really said those awful things too him?

She then remembered the months before, when she saw Gray rubbing her brothers back as he broke down into the table the two sat at. He even glared at anyone who tried to cause a brawl. It was very much unlike him.

She even remembered when Natsu looked like shit one day. Then Gray came along and instead of fighting he surprised the guild when he let the dragon slayer cry into his shoulder. Even passing the little Happy his uneaten fish.

It was as if he knew how to deal with loss or something…

Then all of a sudden she was pulled out of her thoughts by Erza forcefully pulling her up to her feet before dragging her towards the forest where they had watched Gray run into.

"W-Wait!" She called out to Erza. "What are we doing?"

Erza glared at her team member. "We are getting Gray back, then you will apologise for you're actions and words before we get back to doing our job. All Mira did was nod, wanting to redeem herself for her mess up.

The two failed to see the figure behind them, he was wearing glasses and he had short hair and seemed to carry himself very formerly. He also wore robes that suggested he had a tie to the council. He quickly ran away to the authorities to alert them of the immediate danger.

The two sprinted into the forest, the trees were still thick with snowy leaves so the snow blanket wasn't as thick on the ground, every twelve feet or less was home to a tree or bush and the two could follow a frozen stream further into the woods.

Erza guided the two through the forest as she followed what she assumed to be Grays footprints. Which led the two into an opening, miles away from the main city.

But when looked around, she concluded that both Gray wasn't here and that the footprints also ended in the centre.

"What?" She questioned. "Then where did Gr-"

She was cut off by a massive metal pole flying towards her, making her jump out of the way before she was impaled to the tree behind her.

"Look what we have here sir..." Drawled a deep ominous voice.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Cackled another voice, this one not as deep, but bordering insane. "Poor girls, they have no idea do they? Mhmhmhmhmmmm!"

"Another pair of weak ass kids?" yawned the third voice, arrogance seeping through every second. "Too damn easy if you ask me!"

The deep voice spoke again. "Perhaps sir, we deploy our squad?"

"yeah, yeah, whatever Omid!" The arrogant voice answered rudely. "Come boys, beat them down!."

When he said this, the tree-line around the opening gave way to over fifty heavily armoured soldiers, the way out was blocked and the three mysterious voices still haven't showed themselves yet.

They were surrounded…

==)(-)(-)(-)(==

Tension… where would our stories be without it?

This was fun too write and all but I am sad that I will no be updating this bastard too often… But then again, TOI is absolutely beautiful so far so hey, fuck it.

TRIVIA TIME!

1: If you could kill, kiss and marry people in Fairy tail, who would you kill, who would you kiss and who would you marry?

I would kill Juvia. She is annoying, useless and the world of FT would be infinitely more better without her disgusting and creepy stench staining it. I would kiss Lisanna and marry Miajane.

2: Who annoys you the most?

The reade 6… he is a constant bastard too me just as I am too him. XD

3: (can't remember if I asked this) What is your favourite ship?

I am a Grayza shipper, but it is a very close call between that and GrayMi.

Thanks for watching and stay cool,

-viperhat


	3. Chapter: 3

Sup…

I won't hold you up by making you read some stupidly long piece of dialogue that would be a waste of you precious time and patience because I am not like that in anyway and to do that to you all would be a crime one should never have the nerve to commit without having a way to escape from the traumatic aftermath…

I wouldn't do that to you all. XD

LET'S READ!

:::-((x))-:::

Between the enclosing circle of heavily armed soldiers and Mirajane's annoying shouts of anger, Erza Scarlet found herself in a state of extreme paranoia. Not that anyone could blame her, even at her age she could tell that the soldiers were enjoying her and Mira's sudden stress.

Their sadistic sneers weren't helping her either…

"Mirajane…" She spoke, hearing Mirajane growl in response. "On the count of three, we need to let loose, got it?"

"W- Whatever, lets just get to it already!" She exclaimed. Her magic flaring up as she waited for Erza's say-so.

"Hmmph! Look at this boy's." The soldier in front of Mira called out. "They are feisty little mages. I bet they think they stand a chance!" The other soldiers shared a dark chuckle at this as they drew closer, being only fifteen inches away from them at this point.

Mirajane, getting more angry and frantic, shot a look at the young re-quip mage behind her, hoping she would just give the damn call already! Either that or she hoped Gray would come out from nowhere and distract them or something. The situation was getting dire from where she stood.

"ERZA!"

The magical spearheads drew closer….

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!?"

Closer…

"H-HEY! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING!?"

The spears were in arms reach now…

"ERZA!"

"ATTACK!"

That was all the she-devil needed…

As soon as she heard her 'team mates' battle cry, her magic had lashed out at the nearest soldiers, knocking them off their feet and forcing the others back harshly… She looked back and saw Erza swiping her enemies off of their feet with what looked to be a hammer of some kind.

 _'Where does she even keep all that trash?…'_

Turning her head back, she spared the stunned soldiers a menacing smile… They were not going to enjoy the next few minutes.

"You fools obviously have a death wish…. Demon Blast!" She roared as she charged up the dark energy between her hands, just before releasing it onto the shaking soldiers. Knocking the majority out, she engaged the rest in hand to hand combat, she wanted to have some fun with the stragglers.

On the other side, Erza had been blocking and dodging the soldiers attacks. Knocking out the easy ones before she stepped up her game. She ducked under another clumsily aimed swing from one of the sword wielders and almost instantly swung her hammer up toward his jaw, sending him flying.

"How can a kid be this difficult!?" She heard one of the soldiers angrily exclaim. She gave him a grin as she made her way towards him.

"You underestimated us..." Was all she said before she knocked him out too with a devastating punch to the stomach. Having to do the same punch to Natsu on occasions had helped her with knowing where to hit. The soldier fell down like rock…

"Enough of this… Mirajane! Finish them off!" She yelled as she summoned multiple weapons and hurled them at her opponents… The poor suckers never had the chance to move out of the way.

"I WAS ABOUT TO DO THAT!" Mirajane shouted back, blasting the last soldier into the nearby tree as she did so.

The two walked back into the middle of the clearing, Examining themselves for injuries. As they did so, they looked up as they remembered why they were here in the first place.

Erza quickly grabbed Mirajane's hand again "We need to move, now." She stated as she began to pull her along. The two made their way out of the clearing and began to sprint further into the forest. Gray had to be around somewhere, she was sure that Mira was aware of the fact that she was not getting out of finding him either.

It was her fault after all...

"Not so fast you blithering idiots." Drawled one of the voices from before. He sounded somewhat bored, yet amused. "We still have a bone to pick with you two..."

Looking back, Erza saw the figure of a guy, he looked no older thirteen or fourteen. He was wearing a long black cloak that almost dragged across the ground as he walked. His hand were covered by a pair of leather gloves, the same colour as the cloak.

In fact, almost everything was black…

His boots were, black, it was hard to see but there seemed to be a flash of silver that indicted buckles around the boots. He even had a black tattoo on his face, covering his right cheek in black stripes perpendicular to eachother as they trailed down to the side of his neck where they faded out.

How ever, his hair was a dark orange, it stuck out in multiple places and it looked as if it hadn't been brushed since It first grew…

He was a strange looking teenager… His jaded green eyes only added to the weirdness scale…

Erza gave the guy her best death glare, being only twelve years old it didn't really effect him in any way.

He reacted by grinning at her, showing off his fanged teeth as he did.

"Cute..." He spoke, amusement threatening to overtake his stoic tone. He took another step forward, moving his hand to muffle the snickers that managed to sneak through. "You know." He said casually after a few seconds. "If you think that you little angry face is going to make us run away like a girl then you are clearly not very smart."

His face suddenly lost all amusement, all the two mages could see was his cold, calculative and slightly bored eyes flare up as he continued to speak. "We have an idea! Let us teach you how to make a good death glare! we are sure you'll appreciate the lesson."

Then his lost all trace of sanity as he gave them an impossibly wide smile. "but whether or not you'll be able to put it to good use after is still heavily debatable."

He softly cackled, taking another step closer as he did so. His casual smirk was back in place, but this only creeped the girls out.

"Unfortunately, we don't think our buds will appreciate us wasting anymore time. If their faces are anything to go by…"

 _'What does he mean by that?'_ Erza looked behind her and to her surprise she saw two people behind them. The one on the left had an orange vest on and was sporting what seemed to be a cross between an afro and bed hair style. From his ears hanged two big white spheres. He had no shoes r socks on and his black shorts had a few slight rips and tears.

The other one seemed to always keep his features furrowed. A maniacal grin plastered onto his face gave the two a full view of his pointed teeth as he cackled a little. What confused Erza was the clothing, no store in Fiore made such attire. His chestplate seemed to be buckled and strapped around him and the dark blue khakis were sporting some odd symbol.

"Ishgar…?" Mumbled Erza, confusion seeping through her wary tone.

"Omid! Enough talking, lets just take one of them already and get out of this stupid country!" Snapped the boy on the left. "Just take one of them out, we can make sure they don't escape. Come on, August is waiting for us!"

"Okay, okay, you don't have to get yourself in a bind." Laughed 'Omid' as he brought his hands together. Something was familiar about it but Erza and Mirajane couldn't figure it out.

But they soon did…

"Iron-Make: Saw blades!" His right hand shot upward as three giant saw-blades came out of the ground beneath the two girls. Luckily Mirajane jumped back, pulling Erza away from the sharp spines just in time. The shock soon wore off though.

"Maker magic?" Was all Erza managed to say before she was forced to dodge an incoming artillery shell from Omid.

The mage in question looked at her, confused. "What?" He asked. "Am I the first mage you have seen use maker magic?" He looked amused again, though his expression changed to his cold and merciless look within a few seconds. Just what was with this guy?

Mirajane fired a barrage of dark energy blasts at Omid, but he simply brought up a metal wall to shield himself before he brought it back down and creating another artillery strike. To which Mirajane destroyed.

He didn't even look phased by her feat however, just happy, as if this was a usual day to him…

Erza summoned her weapons and launched them at Omid, she felt no small amount of satisfaction when two of them managed to cut him on the arm and chest. She followed up by running up to him and slamming her hammer into his face with a grunt.

"Ugh!" Omid stumbled back, feeling his face for anything broken. He looked like he was thinking on something. He blocked Erza's follow up punch and sent her into the air where she was hit by a column of iron, sending her into Mirajane.

He spoke after they landed in a heap. "You know, I don't really think you were supposed to hit me. I mean, it hurt but I don't really think i'm supposed to care all that much on why you hit me with a silver hammer instead of a different coloured one. I guess I have to be 'blunt' with you right now." He laughed at his terrible pun. He must have thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world.

"You know, I think you two are not suited towards fighting me. My material is stronger than yours." He pointed at Mirajane. "And you need her to distract me just so you can hit me."

"I hit from a distance..." Muttered Erza…

"Only because I let you." Omid smiled down on her. "I just couldn't be bothered to move honestly. I mean, they were just deadly sharp swords and spears that could have impaled me onto the nearest tree. What did I have to worry about?" He shrugged his shoulders when he saw the girls expression. Snickering a bit.

"Let us get to the 'point' eh?" He asked, making another bad pun as he put his hands together again. "Iron-Make: Knuckle!"

Suddenly, massive, metal fists appeared both in the sky and from the ground. They all shot forward towards the two girls as they both shot forward and fooled the iron fists to attack Omid.

"What are you two trying to do her-" he cut himself off when they tried to attack him, he brought his fists up in defence but the split and ran around him. Turning around he watched them turn around and stare at him. Confused, he turned around and saw his own creations shooting straight towards him. He looked bored when they came within three feet of him. "Oh… Shit..."

Even as his own fists struck him back and made him trip up he still couldn't be bothered to even look surprised or scared from his foes strategy. The smoke cleared away and he picked himself up up off of the floor. He gave the girls a look and began too laugh slightly.

Mirajane, thinking he was mocking them looked outraged. "Hey, ass-wipe! Don't mocking us when you got hit by your own damn attack!"

"Sorry!" He grinned at them, still laughing. "It is just that it felt like a 'punch-to-face' when it hit me."

"Grrrraaaarrrrrghgggggghhhh! Stop making stupid puns!" The she-devil yelled.

"Why, are they not… Humerus?..." He replied, smirking.

"That's it!" She screamed at him. Charging another demon blast when she and Erza were swept up by a sudden tsunami of sand.

"Ahh! What the!?" Erza Yelped, she felt the phantom sand wrap around her body, rendering her immobile until she was let go. She looked over and saw Mirajane trying to fight off tendrils of sand as they were carried through the forest and into another, slightly smaller opening.

The two fairies were dropped into the centre of the opening, the sand began to spiral around the openings edge as they heard the laughter emanate from it. Suddenly, they saw the figure with the Ishgar clothing enter the opening. Cackling as he did so.

Some of the sand dropped down next to him and the other guy emerged from it. Looking pleased with him self.

"Sand magic?" Erza couldn't help but question the mage. The response she got was a cocky grin and and a glare.

"Yep! I am Ajeel! The best sand mage out their! You two don't stand a chance against me even if you actually helped eachother!" He shot his hand forward and grin even harder.

"What the, again!?" Erza looked at Mirajane, she seemed to be fighting more tendrils of sand , when Erza tried to move to aid her comrade, she tripped and fell over. She looked at her feet and saw the sand around her feet two, it was quickly crawling up and immobilising her again.

"N-No!" She struggled to free herself, but the sand was compressing her, it brought pain to her whenever she even tried to move.

"I am going to stop this sad battle between Omid and you two! He has pissed around with you two enough!" Exclaimed Ajeel. The mage beside him cackled suddenly, as if what Ajeel had just said was a funny joke.

"Technically it wasn't sad." came the voice of Omid. "It was rather 'rough and sandy'." He didn't laugh but instead smiled hen he spoke once more. "Maybe a warning next time? I have been trying not to forgo my boots because you lack the ability to hold yourself back..."

"Pffft! Whatever lazy, you still took to long and you didn't even bother to knock them out." Ajeel sneered in Omid's direction. Only to get a shrug of the shoulders from said mage.

"Well, can you just knock them out now? I want to get some time to annoy Dimaria..."He grinned.

"Fine..." Ajeel replied and looked at the fairies…

For the first time since joining Fairy tail. Erza and Mirajane gulped…

Ajeel gave them one last nasty grin before he slammed them both into the ground with tremendous force, winding the two mages. He then did it again, and again, and again.

"Hahahaha!" He laughed. "You two never stood a chance." He mocked them as he got ready for the finishing blow. The two girls looked at him and glared. He shivered slightly before shaking it off. "See you later!"

"Ice-Make: Lance!"

The familiar voice reached the ears of Erza and Mirajane as they looked up to see an entire barrage of lances fly out from the right side of the clearing. Effectively hitting all three mages and making Ajeel lose both his balance and his grip on the two girls. Who were dropped to the floor as he lost concentration...

"Ah!" Yelped Omid, one of the lances hit him between the legs, bringing him to one knee as he groaned from the new pain. He looked up, covering his head from the oncoming assault. "Who had the 'balls' to do that? Huh!?" He asked, grinning from his pun…

Ajeel had been smashed into the un-named mage and was currently shouting as the horde of lances continued rain down and past him. "Wahl!" He shouted, the other mage looked at him. "Stop this now!"

"Got it." Grinned Wahl. He got up and looked over toward the area the lances were coming from. Some bounced off of him as he stood there. Before long, he extended his arm out, and he shocked the Erza as his arm began to transform into a giant laser cannon!

"Estimated rate of survival: 20%." Wahl cackled as his arm-cannon began to emit a brilliant white light, before he fired and the resulting laser burned through the trees like they were mere pieces of coal.

Silence…

…

…

…

…

…

The two mages stood in apprehension, hoping to see a tuft of black hair come out from the tree line. They waited, and waited.

And after a full ten seconds, Erza had to hold in a cheer as the familiar sight of a topless boy came into view. His blue fairy tail crest in full view. Erza spared a look at Mirajane, who looked both relieved and slightly worried, and to the other mages who all wore different expressions.

Omid, looked giddy. "Another maker mage?" He asked, but he didn't get a reply. He gave a fake wince before laughing. "Man you 'cold'. Hahahahaha!"

That got a confused look from the boy…

Ajeel, looked pissed… Predictable. He seemed to be someone who hated things going wrong… More than necessary in fact.

Wahl just stood there, grinning. "You know, you have just made a big mistake..." He stated. "In fact, your chance of survival is now 5%. You better run boy."

"Fat chance Optimus…." Spat Gray… "You have hurt my nakama. If you think I am going to let you off the hook for that then you more thick than you're magic gives you credit for!"

"WAHL!" Shouted Omid, waving his hands in the air.

"Yes?"

"I want to fight him… He uses maker magic." He demanded, his smile never leaving his face.

"Fine..."

Gray took steps away from the two and towards his comrades. He wanted to make sure they were fine. Well, Mirajane less so but he would make sure eitherway. As he closed the gap between himself and the girls he heard them start talking.

"Gray! Where have you been?" Asked Mirajane, softly as if treading on thin ice. He whirled his head around to face her… Anger flashing in his eyes.

"None of you're business…." He bit out the reply, his tone more cold than any ice he could summon. He saw Mirajane flinch from his tone.

"Gray, not now." Erza warned. Grabbing his shoulder he turned to face her. "We will talk about this after we get back into the town… But right now, we need to focus our efforts on these mages, they are very powerful from what we have seen."

"And felt." Muttered Mirajane. Gray ignored her…

"HEY ICY PANTS!" Omid startled the trio from there talk. He was rushing towards them, with the other two behind him. "YOU, ME AND THIS HOT DOG RIGHT NOW!" He shouted, pulling out a hot dog as he ran.

"What?!" Gray quickly jumped back to avoid the hot dog, Omid really was a weird bastard…

Erza ran at Ajeel as Wahl and Mirajane began to attack eachother with reckless abandon.

"Y'know, this may even be fun if you can keep up!" Ajeel laughed, raising sand from the ground and launching it at Erza. To which she dodged and threw her weapons at him.

"You're chance of winning is roughly 10%, chance of survival… 5%." Drawled Wahl… Cackling when Mirajane fired more dark energy blasts at him…

"You will be eating those words punk!" Mirajane shouted in reply….

And with these first attacks, The real fight begins…

:::-((x))-:::

I hope you enjoyed….

Yes, there is an OC in this story. But hey, he is very 'Punny'…

Ha ha. No one will ever laugh at those jokes.

PHRASES OF AWESOME!

1: "I was eating spaghetti whilst thinking about my grades. They were great and It made me think. The PASTAbilites are endless.'

2: "What is both talentless and hated by everyone? David Cameron..."

3: "Why would I dig a hole, then find a hole? I don't exactly know if you know but that is what a hole is you twat."

Thanks for reading and stay cool,

-viperhat


	4. Chapter: 4

How's it going bro's my name is Pewdiepie, defender of youtube and rejecter of FNAF…

haha…

Funny…

Oh and last chapter I forgot about the scene break. I accidentally used the TOI scene break for the chapter. Oops, punish me…

)(-)(-)(-)(

"Iron-Make: Armblades!" Omid charged at Gray, smirking as he swiped and slashed at the ice mage, who back away and sidestepped each attack with little grace. Omid had to duck when Gray created a hammer and attempted to smash him into the tree next to him.

"Iron-Make: Fluffybuns teddy bear!" He shouted, laughing when Gray looked at him with a flummoxed expression, only to be hugged tightly by a huge, iron teddy bear. "Hahaha! He wuvs you fellow maker mage!" He was about to send a spear through the ice mage's chest when he was forced to block a flurry of strikes from Erza, she had managed to knock Ajeel back for a second to attack Omid and keep him busy for a minute.

"You will not harm my comrade!" She shouted, blocking his punch and slicing through the metal block he summoned on her.

"But I was having fun riding hood!" He whined, as if he was a kid having his candy taken away from him. "Now stop neglecting Ajeel, he needs the attention." He giggled, smacking her sword away and focussing his attention on the ice mage.

Only to be bombarded by dozens of thick and heavy ice balls the size of his hand. He was caught off guard and he was hit everywhere (especially in the nuts). Sending him flying into Wahl, then into a thick bush.

"Oh! Hey Wahl, what are you doing in here?"

"Quiet."

"I don't think that's going to work, they can see us."

All Gray and Mira heard was a thump and a yelp come from Omid. For the first time that day, the two fairies looked at eachother with confusion. The fact that Omid was acting as if he wasn't in a serious situation still hadn't set in.

"You know, I was wondering why your fist was getting bigger, then it 'hit me'." Came the pained reply from Omid.

Another thump, another yelp…

"Okay, thats it!" Gray couldn't take it anymore, he was getting irritated by listening to Omid's terrible puns and Wahl's fist connect with the Iron makers head. He put his hands together and thrust them towards the bush. "Ice-Make: Geyser!"

As soon as the words left his lips a huge tower of ice sprang up from the occupied shrubbery, illiciting a surprised yell from the Iron Maker mage, the two dark mages were instantly shot up into the air, rendering them in suspension.

"Well, this sucks..." Muttered Omid, his face one of complete boredom.

"Shut it."

"Okay!" He chirped in reply to Wahl's command.

Before Wahl could react to his partners stupid reply the tower of ice disappeared from sight only for a huge block of ice to send them plummeting to the ground.

"ACK!" Omid recovered quickly, blocking the incoming blades of ice by creating a big iron wall every time an icy spear came too close. When Wahl got up and started shooting when he had an opening Gray had to start using his ice to block the intense shots whilst Mirajane fired off a flurry of dark energy blasts when she had an opening.

The fight between Omid, Wahl, Gray and Mirajane had halted to a standstill, a game of chance where Gray and Mirajane had to outlast the other two. If one should fall the other would be left vulnerable.

"This is ridiculous Gray!" Mirajane finally shouted after ten minutes of the same routine. She almost flinched when Gray only just blocked the bullet from Wahl and let his fall to give a chance to fire back. "Were not getting anywhere!"

"Just shut it and keep shooting!" Was his cold reply, he blocked another flurry of bullets and missiles before letting the ice fall again. "They cannot keep this up forever!"

"Well neither can we!" She hesitated for a second after hearing the ice mage's tone to her. She had never considered Gray to be a scary guy, but the raw anger and bitterness in his voice made her shiver.

But whilst the two teams were locked in combat Erza and Ajeel were currently circling eachother, quickly blocking and countering the others punches and kicks as the they tried to get the upper hand on eachother.

Well it was more one-sided than that…

Erza, for the last few minutes had been struggling to keep up with the sand mage, his arrogant and taunting voice would spout out shit about him winning and how fruitless her pathetic attempts at trying to beat him were. It didn't work, but it didn't need to. She had slowly been getting more clumsy, not countering when she could or getting hit by an attack that was easy to block.

"Just give up..." Ajeel grinned smugly. "You are starting to lose it." He effortlessly sidestepped her sword and he just sighed before grabbing her wrist and pulling her into his free hand. He grabbed her by the neck before choke slamming her into the ground. Getting her to retch as she hit the ground painfully.

"I did tell ya." He raised a hand and behind him rose a tendril of sand, he grinned maliciously at her squirming form. "But at least you won't coming with us."

All she did was look at the sand, then over to her team-mates, they were not doing to well either, but they certainly were doing better than her.

In fact, when Gray grabbed Mirajane and formed a capsule of ice around before sending her over to them in the form of one his knuckle attacks, she knew they were about to have a good time.

"Omid!"

"'Chill'ax Wahl, I have got the perfect plan." Omid giggled before his face fell into a sadistic and manic grin. "Iron-make: Middle finger!"

He was sure that everyone in the fight took a moment to facepalm at his pun. But as soon as he thrusted his hands foreword a huge hand with the middle finger upright went barrelling towards Gray's ice knuckles.

"Haha!" He wheezed, humour just emanating from him as he gazed upon his 'beautiful' creation. "I've gotta 'hand' it to maker magic, you definitely know how to show me a good fight!"

Wahl looked at the knuckle in suspicion, he felt something was wrong with this situation. But then he grinned him self when he saw Gray leaving himself exposed.

"Hehe… Say goodbye..." He pointed his arm at the ice mage and prepared to fire.

Suddenly, the ice knuckle shattered, revealing Mirajane who instantly sprung at Wahl, taking him by surprise and landing a great kick to his jaw, knocking him over before she rushed over to Omid, who just realised what was going on.

At point Gray jumped in on the action. Dispersing his ice creations and making his way behind Wahl who had his arm raised to shoot Mira. He quickly shot an icy grappling hook and grabbed Wahls arm, pulling his arms down and forcing the mage to face him. Gray quickly ran up to wahl and delivered a powerful kick to his abdomen. Wahl doubled over from the force and Gray followed up by upper-cutting Wahl up into the air slightly.

"Take this..." Was all Gray said before thrusting his hands forward. "Ice-Make: Freeze lancer!" One giant lance was launched into Wahl chest. Due to Wahl being so close he had no chance of avoiding the attack, he was struck hard and the immense force instantly sent him flying.

At the same time those events took place. Mira had rushed at Omid, and the iron-make mage didn't have the time to react as she grabbed his arm and forced it upward, she sent her left fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and leaving him open for a good kick up the ass.

And that was what she did…

She used his moment of weakness to quickly get behind him, whilst holding his arm as she planted her shoe up his rear, which sent him into the air as he let out an "AAAAIIIIIIEEEEE". She growled before finally letting go of his arm and sending her free hand into is back. Which she then fired a dark energy blast into his back. Sending him flying.

The two events happened at the same time, causing Wahl and Omid to crash into eachother with a loud thud. Before they could land however they were frozen in a horizontal tower of ice from Gray.

Mira followed up by blasting a dark energy geyser below the frozen mages, breaking the ice and sending them up into the air.

"Ice-Make: Spring!" Gray bellowed, forming the icy spring under himself and launching him high into the sky. Right beside the flailing mages. "Ice-Make: Hammer!" He formed the huge hammer above them, before bringing it down on their heads, which effectively sent them falling toward the ground at terminal velocity.

As they hit the ground they both grunted in pain, the force of hitting the ground had stunned them for a period of time. Mira fired off a few minor dark energy blasts at them, motivating them to get up and block the shots.

To which they did with ease…

But suddenly, Omid yipped in shock as he looked down to see his arm cuffed to Wahls by an icy chain. He turned to face Gray and was about to throw a column of metal at him when his free arm was then chained to Wahl's other arm.

Mirajane kicked the bound Wahl into Omid, giving Gray less trouble in summoning a chain around the two, completely rendering them useless.

"Ice-Make: Dome!" Gray shouted, a small dome appeared around the two struggling mages, keeping them from escaping the final blow.

"Take this you bastards!" Was all Mira growled as she formed a circle of dark energy around the dome. "ENERGY LANDMINE!"

As soon as she screamed this the circle of pulsating dark energy blew up, completely destroying the dome, and enveloping the two mages in her burning negative energy.

Omid screamed as he felt the burning pain rise up within him, it was times like this he was jealous of Wahl. The guy was a Machina! He didn't feel pain, he just reacted to harmful elements!

Finally, the attack wore off, Omid and Wahl landed back on the ground, Omid fell to the ground and grabbed his right leg, bringing it up to his chest and grabbed his leg with both hands before rocking with a fake pain filled moan.

He breathed in and let out a fake "Aaaaaaahhhhh" and repeated this for a few minutes.

Wahl couldn't do anything, his systems were fried, but he could bounce back in a bit, but it wouldn't be too long before he was back up and taking these fairies down. He looked at the ice mage, the boy was definitely something else. Omid was the weakest of the spriggan twelve, in fact, he wasn't even in the spriggan twelve. He was the one who you had to beat to be considered an ally of the empire.

But obviously, this boy wasn't going to betray those girls. He wasn't beating the boy with Omid, the twat wouldn't take anything seriously!

Luckily, he got his opening when He heard the Red headed girl shout for assistance. His systems were better, they were at least operational, he looked at Omid and saw the angry expression on his face and he almost grinned. As much as he didn't take things seriously, if he was pissed enough he could take on Jacob and almost equal him in combat.

He knew from experience…

"Gray! Mirajane!" Erza had managed to wrestle out Ajeels grip and move out of the way of the sand tendril just before it pierced the ground. "I need you're aid!"

The two heard her voice and looked back to see her struggling with Ajeel. Gray's eyes widened in fright as he saw the spire's of sand and reacted by firing an armada of lances at the sand mage.

The attacks connected… Gray watched Ajeel yell in pain as he was knocked off balance. He smirked darkly, about to throw another attack at him when suddenly, Mirajane bolted towards Ajeel. Leaving him to deal with keeping the other two down.

Damn it…

"Mira! Dammit..." Gray cursed, he was about to take off after her but he was grabbed by a furious Omid. His eyes widened as he flipped the Iron-make over his shoulder and onto his back. But he was shocked to see Omid quickly recover and plant his fist into his stomach, causing Gray to double over and heave in air as he clutched at Omid's wrist, trying to remove it from his body.

Omid twitched…

"We don't appreciate your treatment of us..." He drawled manically, his voice taking on a dual tone, which creeped Gray out.

"Well, nnnngghh, I don't appreciate your treatment of Mirajane and Erza..."

"Not yourself I see..."

"… Let me go!"

Gray quickly screamed as a burst of strength hit him, he managed to force Omid away from him and kick him in the stomach, But he almost yelped when Omid grabbed his foot and threw him into Wahl's line of fire.

He only just noticed the bullet being fired at him…

Gray twisted himself to avoid the spray of bullets, recovering in mid air and landing with practised ease. He looked back and saw multiple tendrils of iron make their way over to him. He frowned and rolled out of the way, avoiding the attack and rushing at Omid, he barely heard the bullets from Wahl hit the ground behind him as he reached the angry maker mage, blocking the flurry of attacks from him, jumping up and planting his feet into his chest before jumping over hi with a flip. Forming a hammer and whacking him in the back of the head before landing on his feet.

Gray looked back to see Omid and Wahl stand together, getting into their battle stances. He looked back and saw Erza and Mirajane hold off Ajeel now that they knew what to expect. He couldn't fail them, even if Mira was a complete bitch to him. He had to keep these two off their backs, Ajeel seemed hard enough for the two of them combined. If he failed… No, No, he wouldn't fail.

He couldn't afford to hold back any more…

"Okay you two..." He Looked back at the two mages, a dark glint twinkling his eyes and he gazed at them. "I hope you are ready to lose..."

With that, Gray got into his own battle stance, It was time he showed these two just how powerful he really was.

"Ice-make: Shard storm!" He shouted, thrusting his hands at Omid and Wahl. A huge blizzard of sharp and deadly shards were shot at them. They barely managed to avoid the attack only to be hit by a separate chunk of ice from a pair of canons on each side of the shard storm.

The two mages were knocked back, recovering in time to land, Omid huffed in pain but managed to fire off a blockade of swords, spears and axes at the ice mage. Gray simply froze them over and redirected them back at the two mages.

Again, the mages dodged the attack and this time they blocked the secondary attack. But as they shielded Gray took the chance to run up to Wahl and grab his arm and direct the rocket in his arm canon at Omid.

The rocket fired before Wahl could stop it and Gray quickly threw him up into the air and kicked him at Omid too. The mage in question grabbed the rocket and threw it at the girls, who were still holding off Ajeel easy enough. He managed to jump out of the way of the incoming Wahl but he was left open to Gray's ice knuckles.

He took the hit yet stood his ground, he wasn't going to lose to this pathetic whelp!

"Huh, you are starting to show your 'Metal' now aren't ya!" He spoke in his ominous dual tone. He ran at Gray and tried to hit him, but the ice mage blocked him. Omid easily blocked the counter attack and luckily managed to strike Gray in the chin with a metal column, sending the mage into the air.

Wahl saw his opportunity to strike and he took it. He aimed his arm at the airborne ice mage and fired a giant rocket at him. He cackled hard when it connected with Gray's body, the force sending him into a nearby tree. The ice mage grunted, he felt a few splinters pierce into his back as he wriggled out of the human sized crater made by him.

He rolled out of the way from Omid's iron knuckle and froze the ground under him, making Omid slip and slide onto his ass. Gray followed up by creating a turret behind him, aimed at Omid and firing at him.

Suddenly, Wahl came out of nowhere and shattered the chunk of ice before dashing at Gray, grabbing his neck at a speed so fast he couldn't even react and finally smashing him into the ground, making the ice mage cough out blood and squirm for a period before twisting around and grabbing Wahl's face and sending his free fist into his abdomen.

As Wahl doubled over in shock he felt his grip on Gray slacken, Gray took the opportunity to force Wahl away from him and bombard him with Lances.

Gray took the time to look over at Erza and Mira and saw them grab one arm each, he mentally winced as he watched Erza send a kick into the sand mages stomach as Mirajane mimicked the red head by kicking him in the back, parallel to Erza's own leg. Ajeel fell to his knees as he groaned in pain. Erza and Mira still had a grip on his arms and they both punched him In the chin, snapping his head back and they let go of his arms before Mira raised her leg and planted it hard into his chest, knocking him onto his back.

His attention was quickly diverted back to the two angry dark mages behind him, he blocked Omid's punch and ducked under Wahl's leg which connected with Omid, snapping his head back and knocking him away from the ice mage.

"Oh right, I forgot." He swiped Wahl's legs from under him and got back into fighting his enemies.

Erza and Mira could protect themselves after-all, they didn't need his watchful eye on them.

)(-)(-)(-)(

Erza avoided Ajeel's feet when he launched himself at her, as she did her gaze landed on Gray, she saw him holding the two mages back with punches, kicks and dodges only she knew he could pull off. She would have smiled was it not for Ajeel trying to take her feet out from under her.

Omid and Wahl obviously were not in Ajeels calibre, but the two of them seemed to work very well together, she could see the two mages attack with practised precision and timing but they were equally matched by the ice mage who was no longer holding back. She grabbed Ajeel's arm, twisted it and forced him to hunch downward before slamming her free hand into his collarbone and choke-slamming him back into the ground, leaving him open to Mirajane's wrath.

 _'Okay, no more watching Gray, concentrate!'_ The re-quip mage jumped into the just as Mirajane threw Ajeel upward and when she was close enough she swung her sword down on Ajeel's stomach.

However, Ajeel twisted his body just in time to deflect her blow and respond with a kick to her head, Erza didn't have the speed to block the offending limb and ended up being smacked into the ground, she felt her breath leave her when Ajeel stomped onto her as he landed, he ducked under Mirajane when she tried to kick him with a magic infused boot before jumping off of Erza's stomach.

"Sand golem! Keep that goth girl off me!" The sand mage turned back to look at Erza, she mentally berated herself for losing focus on the enemy, whilst watching Gray at his best was mesmerizing now wasn't the time!

That was her mistake and hers alone…

Slowly, with a loud huff she managed to push herself onto her feet and face Ajeel. His cocky smirk making her growl.

"What's the matter? Starting to tire?" He laughed, effortlessly sidestepping her ham-fisted attack. He continued to dodge and block her slowly weakening attacks, looking over toward Gray and Mira and chuckling as he watched to two of them slow down as well. He looked back to erza, who had noticed the same thing he had, her eyes flashed in alarm as she began struggling to land a hit on him.

Catching her other fist he forced her too look him in the eye, the dangerous glint they held from the beginning were still present as he leaned in closer.

"This is where you will remember me as a god, Titania." His tone was low and threatening, but it held a tinge of maliciousness to it that made the re-quip mage shiver from fear. But she didn't have the chance to do anything before she was kneed straight in to stomach, knocking the air out of here and making her double over and quickly finished off with a hard and fast hand chop to her neck.

As she fell to the ground, fighting off the looming unconsciousness that continued to close in, she saw Ajeel disperse his sand golem and attack Mirajane himself and quickly overpowering her. But as she watched the white haired girl slam against the ground, her ears picked up the loud yell of a grown man's voice.

She could only hope they were good guys…

With that, Erza Scarlet felt her unconsciousness envelope her, knocking her out cold…

)(-)(-)(-)(

Before Mirajane could reply to the voices she was knocked back by Ajeel, who took her by surprise forced the breath out of her lungs.

"Energy La- ACK!" Mirajane did try to avoid the multiple tendril's of hardening sand, but they hit her before she even knew they were after her. She couldn't avoid even if she tried. She looked behind the figure of Ajeel and her eye's widened when she saw the downed form of the Titania. "What did you do to her!?"

"Put her too sleep for some time." He answered rudely. "Honestly, she should count her self lucky, I the most powerful mage In the world, spared her, despite her interference." As soon as he was done he threw his hand up in the air and summoned a tsunami of sand and aimed it at the take-over mage.

"Shit." All Mira could do was run and hope that the sand just gave up.

That was a thing it could do right?…

Unfortunately; that was something impossible she was hoping for. In the end she got caught, the sand enveloped her body and compressed around her, eventually braking her dominant arm and making her scream out loud.

If those people didn't here it then they were deaf…

The sand was getting even more tight around her, she could feel her body going numb from the pain, but even through that she managed to feel the sudden change in the sand's temperature, she heard Gray shout her name at the same time, when she looked down she was shocked to see the sand around her shatter and crumble away. Looking at Ajeel she saw that he too was surprised by this development.

She landed on the ground with a thump. Clutching her wrecked arm and groaning as the sharp pain set in. She almost didn't see Ajeel run to her, his intent was clear, his posture, the speed he ran at. He was going to throw her, where she didn't know but she knew it was coming.

And she didn't have to strength to move…

So when she was thrown straight at Erza's sleeping form, she shielded her haphazardly and prepared for the stabbing pain that would come from the sand mages sand sword.

So when it never came, she looked up and she almost cried at what she saw…

Somehow, within the short span of time of her being launched into Erza, Gray had managed to knock his opponents back with enough force to run up to her and take the attack meant for her. The sandy weapon from Ajeel protruded out of his mid-section Where his stomach would be. Fresh blood began to pour out of both sides of the wound, it dribbled down his legs and pooled around his feet on the ground.

It was all Mirajane could as she held in her scream. The stench of copper had filled the air and Gray's laboured breaths began to get very heavy and hitched, it was clear that he was having immense trouble with breathing.

Or he was panicking…

"Gray… No..."

It felt like the world had stopped for those few seconds. Even the Wahl and Omid had stopped and looked at Ajeel with annoyance, well Omid pouted, it seemed like he had calmed down. Apparently those two had trouble holding the ice mage back.

"You foolish boy..." Was all Ajeel said after the shock and elation set in. But it quickly became shock again as he and the two behind him were blasted back by a powerful magical burst. He shouted as he was slammed into the tree on the far side of the opening.

He didn't hear or see the others get up and for once he couldn't blame them, he felt dizzy and sapped. He must have been trying harder than he gave himself credit for.

So the three began their attempts of standing on their feet again. It was proving harder than they anticipated. It would take them some time.

)(-)(-)(-)(

"Gray…?

Mirajane couldn't believe her eyes…

The ice mage she had thought was nothing but a nuscience had not only taken a fatal blow for her but also had just blasted the three mages back and from the looks of it, dazed them for some time!

But she was quickly reminded of his mortality when he coughed and she saw blood splatter on the dirt in front of him. He was facing away from her and his breaths, his declining posture and the fact that he was groaning in pain every few seconds scared her to no end.

Was Gray going to die?…

Tears slowly fell down her cheeks as that thought popped up in her head. The ice mage was so loved in the guild. She knew that her brother got on well with him. Cana never left him alone, Even Natsu cared about him, as much as he didn't like to admit it. Erza always seemed a lot more closer to Gray than anyone else in the guild.

Then she gasped, Erza…

What would she say? What would she do?

What would everyone do to her?

"Mirajane, their getting up again." Gray strained as he tried to speak clearly. "We ne-"

"If there are any Fairy Tail mages out here, please come to us!"

The ice mage heard Mirajane gasp at the voices again. Were the rune knights here? But they only sent requests to Fairy Tail for help when they couldn't deal with a threat alone! They would get slaughtered!

The Ajeel, Omid and Wahl were up again, they looked at the ice mage with malicious interest for some reason. He had to get Mirajane and Erza out of here. He felt tears fall from his eyes as he realised there was no way for him to escape with them.

He would either die here, or die in a few short hours… The least he could do for his friend and Mirajane was to allow them a safe passage away from these monsters.

So that was what would do…

"Gray! We need to move. Please, just keep hanging on until we get you help!" He heard Mirajane speak to him, tension was evident in her voice. He listened to her groan as her arm brushed against what he expected to be Erza's armour.

"Mirajane…" He rasped, his body paled from the blood loss. "We don't have the time."

"Don't say that nakey!" Was the half angry half desperate response he received. Why did she care?

"I-" He broke down into a fit of painful sounding cough and sputters, making the take-over mage whimper in fright. "I'm… dying..." The words sounded so bitter and foreign when they rolled off of his blood coated tongue. "I won't make back to any medical centre in time before the blood loss takes me out."

He stumbled, watching the three dark mages watch on, Ajeel and Wahl with glee, Omid with a overdone sad face with popcorn In his hands, whimpering as he shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"No, no, NO!" She didn't want to hear all this crap from him! She hadn't been given the chance to apologise yet! "Just come on! I am not leaving you hear."

"If those three manage to find those rune knights, they will kill them all. You and Erza are in terrible shape to fight so they would take you both out too."

"Bu-"

"The least I can do before I die is give you and Erza a chance to live, tell everyone about these people from Ishgal, they obviously don't want to be found out.." He grit his teeth suddenly and let out a loud groan as the wound began to inflame. "This is more important than me… Please..."

The pleading in his voice startled her, the pain she felt as she watched him move away from her and towards the three dark mages. The worst thing about it all was that he was right. There really was nothing she or Erza could do… If the rune knights were found by those mages, they would die, as would she and Erza. If she just put Erza down and tried to help Gray, they would die, and Mavis knows what would happen to Erza.

She had no choice, as much as she wanted one…

"I'm sorry..." She whispered, only loud enough for him too hear, he froze for a second. She saw the tears fall from his eyes and that only made her struggle more to hold the tears back.

"It's alright, you were angry, and I didn't help matters…" He turned to face her, his pale and blood stained face stared into Mira's eyes. "Tell the others I said goodbye will ya? And Erza that I'm sorry for keeping my promise?"

With that he turned back… "Go!" He shouted as the three mages rushed forward, confident that they would get to Mirajane and Erza without any trouble. Gray wouldn't allow it.

He froze the ground, causing Omid to fall over, giving him one less problem to deal with. He blocked a punch from Wahl, but he was left vulnerable to Ajeel's knee, which collided with his ruptured stomach.

That caused Gray to let out an ear splitting scream as he punched the unsuspecting sand mage in the groin, forcing him to his knees, Gray quickly turned around and shot an icy grapple out at Omid, which hoisted him back to the ice mage. But Wahl quickly grabbed his arm and snapped it in multiple places, which only made Gray scream even harder.

But he continued to hold on… For Mira and Erza.

Ajeel kicked Gray in the side of his leg, breaking that appendage, but Gray didn't scream, he couldn't scream, he just focused on stopping Wahl from leaving so he just tripped the machina up.

He got his other arm broken for his trouble…

Then Omid broke his other leg for shits and giggles, literally making those noises as he did so…

That was when Gray Fullbuster couldn't stay conscious any longer, his throat ran dry very quickly, his limbs were destroyed and numb and his mind was braking with each second he remained conscious.

But he couldn't see or hear Mirajane anymore, hopefully she had managed to save Erza from this fate.

He could hear the heavy breathing from Omid and Ajeel and the cackle from Wahl as his face grinded against the dirt, his stomach continuing to bleed profusely.

 _'This is how it end then…'_ His mind whirled in fright at what was to come next, but then relaxed, thinking about his sacrifice, trying to ignore the slight stab of guilt. _'At least I could give them a chance, i'm sorry everyone, but at least we didn't lose those two as well.'_

With that sentiment out of the way, Gray felt his energy leave him and his body begin to cool at an alarming rapid rate, even shocking the three mages who did it too him.

But before he could ponder, his vision went black, as did his mind...

)(-)(-)(-)(

She had to look away…

She couldn't watch those monsters do this to her guild-mate any longer, it was bad enough that it was her fault to begin with. She continued to limp away from the opening, desperately hoping she could find the rune knights, only they could help her now.

But her mind fought against her all the way. She didn't want to think about Gray being mutilated in such a fashion, especially not after realising how kind and selfless the boy really was.

Erza was right, he really was an amazing boy…

And to see him suffer the way he did, it only made her feel worse.

 _'What kind of horrible person am I?…'_ She internally whimpered, trying to hold back the fresh batch of tears that threatened to roll down her cheeks. She couldn't save her own fucking sister and now she was unable to do the same thing for Gray! What was worse was that Erza obviously cared immensely for him, as did Cana, Levy, Elfman, even Laxus seemed to be warmer with him than he was with the others. Natsu cared, he didn't like to admit it but his actions spoke louder than any word ever could.

And she had let him die…

Worse; He gave up his life so that she didn't have to die. His actions and words startled Mirajane, she had never considered this side of Gray, the one that never held back, the one that always put his friends and guild-mates before himself so much that he almost neglected himself.

Suddenly; she heard the voice again, it echoed in the forest and straight into her ears. Like a beacon of hope, she began to sprint as fast as she could towards the source. Making sure that she didn't hit her broken arm on anything whilst keeping the unconscious Re-quip mage safe from the branches and bushes that littered the landscape.

And after a full minute of searching, she found them, the group that had been shouting and just as she hoped, they WERE rune knights!

"Over here!" She shouted, Watching as the soldiers clad in white cloaks turned sharply to face her, pointing their weapons In her direction for a second before spotting the Fairy tail insignia on her person.

"Are you two the mages sent from the Fairy Tail guild?" Questioned the leader. Looking at her with steely eyes. At seeing her nod her let out a sigh of relief. "Good, the last thing we need is a run-in with those dark mages. Most of our men never return after an encounter."

Mirajane's eyes widened in shock, Gray was right!

Then her eyes almost bugged out from her sockets…

"Gray!" Her loud screech caught the squad off guard, making a few of them jump from the sudden inflection. She realised quickly what she did and elaborated. Fighting off the emotions that flayed when her mind attempted to rationalize the situation. "Gray, our other guild-mate… W-was killed by them."

She almost broke down then, the soldiers looking at her in surprise didn't help matters. Those words felt so weird and horrible on her lips, like Gray and dead were never supposed to go together in the same sentence. But that was what had happened, there was no way he was surviving that stomach wound.

"What?..." The leader whispered, he must have thought that Fairy tail mages were un-killable… Talk about a rude awakening…

"Please; find his body, send him back to our guild where he belongs..." She choked out, feeling her mind buzz from exhaustion. "I will even transfer the fight we had with them onto a memory lacrima for evidence. You and my guild deserve the truth."

He nodded sadly, placing a hand on her shoulder and retracting it at her pained hiss and wince. He looked over to his men and made a hand gesture before three of them began to walk deeper into the forest.

"Let's get you and your friend to a hospital." The leader spoke softly, trying not to set off the broken girl before him. She had long ago gave up trying to hold the tears back and was letting them run free.

He got one of his men to lead the way out and that was that, he would get these two poor girls to the hospital, speak to the council and ask them to inform Fairy Tail of the bad news.

"For what it's worth young lady, I am sorry for you're loss, I can relate."

She looked up at him, her expression sad and broken.

"Thank you..."

)(-)(-)(-)(

I have a quick question; What is it with me and harming Gray? XD

Okay, first off, I owe you all an apology. I haven't uploaded or anything for the last week or so because college has started getting REALLY HECTIC! Me and my friend have started up our youtube channel again, that's right, TheTwits69 are back and we are bringing you the most cringe and terrible videos on the internet! Feel free to check us out!

Shameless self promotion out of the way, will Gray die or live? I think you already know the answer…

I wouldn't have the summary the way it is if I was planning to have him die…

So no special thing for today, I am tired and dead inside so yeah. XD


	5. Chapter: 5

Sup/  
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You that jumble of text above? Yeah that has no correlation to anything. XD

Okay, I am a bit of a tease for not doing the next chapter of TOI. But in all honesty, I am really struggling to write it at the moment and I have really been itching to make another chapter of One's Perseverance. But the next update to Toi will be rather late again because my motivation for EVERYTHING has just vanished. I am still trying to do shit but I am really nihilistic with my outlook on things.

I don't know if that makes sense, it is hard to explain…

But…

LET'S READ!

)(-)(-)(-)(

(3 hours later)

The dull grey clouds lingered over everything in Fiore, letting little flakes of snow flutter down towards the ground forming a thick white blanket that covered the ground, this was the sight Mirajane had been privy too as she was escorted out of the forest.

She could see the dirt before her slowly giving way to the frosted flecks that overlapped the earth beneath it. The feeling of the cold began to intensify around her, as if making her aware that it was there, burying deep within her skin as if to never leave her alone…

It was as if the world was mocking her. Reminding her of who she had left behind. All she could see and feel was all related to the cold, which was related to ice, which happened to be related to a certain Ice mage who's name and being would forever haunt her…

 _'Gray…. Gray…. I'm sorry, please… Be alive… Please don't be dead…. Please….'_

Her mind continued to chant the same words over and over again religiously, as if it would have some kind of miraculous effect on the fate of her comrade's life. But deep down, she knew it was a stupid thing to hope for. She had seen the wounds on his body, she had seen the copious amounts of crimson spill onto the ground and run down his legs.

She had seen the savage state those monsters left him in….

Mirajane shook her head violently, causing one of the soldiers to look over to her in pity. Throwing hers hands up to her face she quickly hid herself behind them. She just simply couldn't bear gazing over the frozen wonderland of the town in the distance… It looked so bright and happy, despite the heavy grey clouds that loomed above it.

She couldn't bear to look at Erza in the stretcher, her injuries were not bad by any means, only having a black bruise forming over her stomach and ribs along with a few dotted here and there. She was fine.

For now at least.

Unlike most of the guild Mirajane had seen the change in Erza's attitude and behaviour towards the late Ice mage. After one day the two started growing closer and closer. From going out on little job's more regularly to even becoming more intimate.

The only real example Mirajane could dig up out of her memory was when she had been brooding in the corner of the guild, looking up and seeing Erza actually REST HER HEAD on the ice mage's shoulder. She caught Gramps and Macao looking at them, Gramps with a warm smile and Macao with a look of surprise.

The relationship between the two had taken a turn for the best. Every time one of the members Erza was talking to mentioned his name she even smiled more at the mere mention of it.

The way she defended him earlier today had even brought out more of how she felt for him. Mirajane could no longer tell how Erza truly felt for the ice mage…

And soon she would be waking up to a world without him…

The she-devil sniffled hard, taking in deep breaths to calm herself, for what little good it was doing her. She didn't even want to think of her reaction…

Slowly, she took her hands away from her face. She didn't need to knock herself out by hitting a tree after-all… Not until she got Erza back to the guild. She had promised him and she would keep her promise.

But what would she do after? In a way, this was all she had left of a friend who gave his life to save hers and his best friend/crush, she really didn't know. Not that it mattered anymore. After she and Erza got back to the guild she would have completed his final request of her.

She have to accept the reality of another person she knew dying. She had already lost her beautiful sister, her precious little sister and that had almost destroyed her. If it were not for those in the guild she would have probably given up.

Now she let her emotions take another person away. Not just from herself, but from Erza, from Natsu, from Cana, from Gramps. From everyone…

She really was a demon….

She felt numb, and she continued to feel numb all the way into town and through the town, slowly forcing one foot in front of the other and crunching through the slowly thickening snow until the rune knight leader, herself and Erza broke off from the rest of the team, the leader giving the order to return to base.

The town was almost empty. Except the few who preferred the later times to take walks or do their everyday things, however the sight of the three caused them to skirt around them with a wary glance. The snow had been falling faster the further they trudged through Crocus' streets.

"The hospital is this way" He motioned for her to follow her, the stretcher behind him bringing up his rear when he walked on. Mirajane simply complied. No nod, no voice, no nothing.

Mirajane looked up. She could see the hospital over the rune knight leader's shoulder, but she didn't bother to try and get a better view. She lacked the will to do much other than walk and if she stopped she felt she may never start again.

)(-)(-)(-)(

(1 hour later)

A harsh ray of light was what Erza woke up to, causing her to wince at the intensity. She slowly opened her eyes fully once she turned away from the light source above her and began to take in her surroundings. It was hard to fight off the sleepy haze in her head, but soon enough it was gone, replaced by her usual state of mind.

From what she could make out, she was in some sort of hospital room. Looking down she could see her body covered by a thin sheet to stave off the ever more noticeable cold temperature's from outside. The soft material she felt underneath her only enforced her guess.

 _'What happened?'_ She thought to herself. 'The last thing I remember was… Fighting that sand mage and…' Her face scrunched up in concentration only for her eyes to shoot up in realisation.

She quickly gave her room another once over, she couldn't see any sign of Mirajane or Gray. Were they okay? Did they make it out? Were they hurt?!

She was barely able to sit up, and the effort it took for her to do so was immense. A sudden stabbing pain caused her to groan as she sat herself up carefully. That sand mage had really done a number on her.

Her thoughts were suddenly stopped when she heard the sound of the door to her right opening with a quiet creak making her grimace, she never liked hearing that high pitch noise of wood screeching against wood.

But her attention was drawn from the noise when the form of a man entered her room along with a woman clad in white and red attire. Obviously the nurse and the man in front was dressed in a white jumpsuit, the suit looked rather formal however. The man was also donned in a thick white cloak., the black and purple stripes signifying his allegiance to the rune knights.

The nurse, somehow being the first to spot her patient awake rushed to their side, doing the usual routine of caring for her patient and the rune knight took a seat, looking at Erza with forlorn gaze. The re-quip mage wasn't ashamed to admit that his look had her on edge, it could have meant a variety of situations that have happened.

Some of which she refused to think about…

The nurse finished up asking her questions and made her way out of the room, giving Erza a pitiful look on the way out.

Now that had her even more worried… What was going on? Did something happen? Why wasn't the knight saying anything?! If he had something to say to her then why was he just sitting there and staring!?

Of course, only seconds had gone by as her mind began to delve into panic. But the further the man sat in silence the more Erza began to get restless, bruises be damned if he didn't say something she was going to lose her mind!

But to her sanity's fortune he didn't stay silent any longer…

"Hello miss Scarlet." He sounded gravelly, like his throat and lungs were tainted by cigarettes. But he was being careful, she could see that as well as hear it. "How are you feeling?

"I'm doing fine, but where are my friends?" She didn't feel like beating around the bush. She wanted to see Gray and Mira (for once), after seeing and experiencing the danger the three went through she had to know that they were good.

The knight visibly deflated, letting out a sigh. "Your friend with the white hair is currently being questioned, we need some evidence to make a case for it. Her memories are being documented via memory lacrima."

"And Gray?"

He didn't seem to want to answer her question. He let out another sigh and opened his mouth to answer her.

"I-" He began, but before he could answer her the door had been opened again, the same nurse from earlier entered the room again. She looked over toward Erza and gave her a smile.

"Well, miss Scarlet your bruises will fade away in a few days. In fact you have been cleared to leave the hospital when ever you're ready." She chirped, flashing the young girl a smile before taking her leave… Again…

The rune knight took that as a cue to leave too. Quickly getting up and making his way to the door before leaving as quick as the nurse. Erza cursed, something rare for her to do, but she didn't care. Just as soon as she was about to get some idea about Gray and his well-being the knight just decided to run away.

Sighing loudly, she swung her feet over the bed mattress and stood up. Re-quipping her her hospital gown to her usual heart kreuz armour she began to make her way out of the hospital. Hoping she would catch Mirajane on the way out.

If not, then she would have to wait…

)(-)(-)(-)(

The process to capture the memories of the fight was more than mentally taxing for the she-devil. If she had known that the entire process involved reliving the fight over again she would have taken the time to reconsider that was for sure.

Watching her friend get impaled once was enough torture, but having to view it again, knowing that she could do nothing to save him made her feel sick to her stomach. The sight of his body being thoroughly broken by those wicked bastards was going to be forever lodged into her memory, nothing would be able to remove it.

But it was now done. All she had to do now was see Erza and… and explain to her why she would never see him again.

"Fuck you..." She felt herself cursing his name without speaking it, as if he could hear it and realise what his sacrifice was going to do to her, and the rest of the guild… "I-I'll never forgive you… I-I-I can't…." There was those tears again. Gritting her teeth, she attempted to stave them off, to give herself time before she lost her will to hold them back.

 _'Please…. Come back!'_

The captain of the rune knights had come back into the office she was in previously. She remembered hearing his tone grow sad and low. Like he was trying not to set her off.

" _My men have told me that there was no sign of your friend, but they came across what must have been your battleground." He held his head in his hands, as if he was suffering himself just by telling her the report. "I'm sorry, but there is no way your friend could have survived those injuries, there was simply too much blood spilled at the scene."_

And that was that… He left without another word. Leaving Mirajane to deal with the sudden drop in her blood's temperature, but she didn't cry. She was simply numb for now, but she knew that wouldn't last long at all.

Steeling herself the she-devil made her way out of the office and into the reception. Her feet dragging heavily, hitting the ground with heavy thud's. She was about to go and find Erza's room when a flash of red caught her eye. Looking over she could clearly see the familiar set of armour donned by her red headed rival. She was already up and walking, those bruises seemed to do nothing to her as she stood straight, as if looking for someone…

Mirajane had a clue as to who she was waiting for…

She almost didn't want to go out there and face her. Knowing what she knew made it seem like an impossible task lie ahead of her. Secondly, she could see just from her rivals expression that she was clueless to her friends fate.

But she needed to know… Just like the guild needed to…

So with a deep breath to calm her flaying emotions, she began to walk out of the hospital and towards Erza. The doors opening for her left her exposed to the cold instantly, almost shivering (from the cold or not she didn't know) she almost felt the need to rub her arms.

"Mirajane…?" Her rival's voice snapped her out of her stupor. Realising she had walked past Erza and further into the street she stopped herself and turned to face her. "How are you feeling?"

It was a simple question… So why did she feel guilty for answering like she did?

"F-Fine...I-"

"Good." Erza then leaned against the wall of the hospital sighing in relief. "I think we should chalk this job up as a failure don't you agree?" She looked over at Mirajane quizzically. "I hate the thought of quitting, but this may be out of our league. I don't want you or Gray getting hurt under my care."

That was it… mentioning his name the way she did. Unknowing of what had happened to her friend. Believing he was fine when he was practically dying she last saw him.

Mirajane broke down into tears…

Her legs lost the strength to hold her weight, so she crumpled to the floor like a puppet with the strings cut. Her face inches away from the blanket of white snow with just her hand stopping her from face-planting the ground. She began to cry, no amount of pride could keep her emotions from being released, no amount could stop the guilt from rising every second she thought of Erza and no amount of pride could ever bring her friend back from his sacrifice…

Her sudden actions startled Erza. Why was she crying? She was fine, She herself was fine and that meant Gray was going to be fine… Right?

The re-quip mage rushed over to her side and for the first time ever, held her as she continued to brake down… But as time went on, her mind had time to think about why Mirajane suddenly began to bawl. The more time she held her, the more she felt dread rise within her like bile.

That was when it hit her… Where was Gray?

"Mirajane..." Erza tried to be gentle as she forced the she-devil to look at her. Her own panic evident on her face. "Where is Gray?"

Mirajane looked away and mumbled… Erza wasn't able to catch what she said…

"What did you say?" She could feel a slow build up of panic enter through her veins. So when Mirajane didn't respond she shook her slightly. "Answer me! Where is Gray!?"

"HE'S DEAD!" Mirajane pushed Erza off of her in a bout of raw emotional turmoil. She couldn't stop herself now that she had said it, like it was finally dawning on herself…

But Erza…

Mirajane's words pierced her like a white hot needle. Her blood froze and her mind went blank. Her entire body felt like it was going numb, almost causing her to fall from the light shove Mira gave her. She just stood in complete and utter shock at what left Mira's lips.

But that didn't stop a single tear from escaping her one real eye.,,

"W-what…?"

"HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD HE'S DEAD!" Her rival wailed into the sky, her composure completely destroyed.

The words hit Erza just as hard, if not even more… She just stood there looking down on Mira, the outside world not completely registering with her mind anymore.

"Gray..." The name left her lips so quietly she wasn't sure if she had even said it. She, just like Mirajane, slumped to the ground, leaning against the wall of the hospital as she just began to stare blankly into the darkening sky.

He was gone… Just like Grandpa Rob. He had left her to face the cruel world all on her own…

She felt utterly dead inside…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 hours later)

It took Mirajane a long time to pull herself together. But it took her even longer to even convince Erza to start moving. She had just gone into a frozen trance, continuously staring into nothingness with silent tears now escaping both of her eyes. Mirajane could swear she even heard the re-quip mage whimper every now and then.

Seeing her rival so vulnerable and broken. She couldn't ever describe the feeling of anger and sorrow that washed over her every time she gazed into those empty brown pools. Those eyes, that had been filled with strength and life were now dead but not.

She had to help and guide Erza through the town and to the train station, then she had to pull her into the trains carriage, she refused to acknowledge the train doors closing just as she got them both in…

The world was out to make her suffer, she knew it… And she knew she deserved it…

Even when the train pulled into Magnolia station Erza made no effort to even move an inch. Thus Mirajane found herself in Fairy Hills, sifting through Erza's keys as she fumbled with the lock on her dorm's door.

But she got it open after a while. Mirajane then sat Erza down on her bed, she looked around. The room was very Erza-like. Every weapon and armour pieces were organised and stocked up on the walls and the floor had no carpet. Just like the other dorms the room was fairly spacey, but not enough for anything majorly big to be put in.

But even after a minute, Erza was still staring into space, almost as if she was searching for him to bring him back. She wouldn't ever stop if that were possible.

Sighing brokenly, Mirajane made her way to the exit. Giving one last look over her shoulder to the almost comatose re-quip mage…

"I'm so sorry..." She whispered, hoping that he and Erza would catch it by some miracle. But miracles don't exist in this world. She couldn't help but believe that.

With all she could do done, she slowly closed the door and she prayed to whatever god was listening that Erza would recover from this.

She wouldn't be… it was her fault after-all…

Now she had to tell the guild, oh joy.

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 days later)

The first thing he felt was a subtle swaying of the ground. But it wasn't the ground, it was too smooth, deliberate. It felt refined in a way, although with the lack of feeling in his arms and legs and most of his lower body he couldn't tell what was what.

Then he heard something, it sounded like a splash, a big one. So his ears were still working, that was good. But he needed to open his eyes.

And that was proving to be quite the challenge…

He fought against himself, forcing his eyelids to lift so he could see where he was. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he managed to get them open.

What he saw was horrifying…

His heavy eyes were tired and drooping, but his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. Rows upon rows of cells lined on on both sides of what seemed to be a massive hallway. The surface he felt now revealed itself to be wooden yet that wasn't what had him in a fright.

The cells were filled to the brim with children. He could see from where he was that a majority appeared to be male. Many had exotic looks, probably being from Minstrel or bastion respectively. He could make out the slanted eyes on a few he believed to be from said countries.

It was then when his situation dawned on him. One: he was miraculously alive. Two: he had been kidnapped, his mind had cleared itself up and the swaying felt awfully familiar to that of a boats…

He was about to curse, scream if he could. But trying to move his arms or legs proved to be both useless and painful. Looking down, he almost wanted to cry. His limbs had been broken and shattered. He remembered now...

"Oh shit..."

)(-)(-)(-)(

How was that for you?

Now I want to say that again I feel like I have not done the chapter justice. I really struggle to make things sad.

Okay, so I want to address some things before I leave this off…

1: Rook and Absolute-zero both brought up the fact that Ishgal is located in Fiore.

Firstly: I will apologise for my mishap here. It was a mistake. I did some research into the geographical side of things but I have always sucked at geography. So in the end I just decided to separate them as it works to my stories favour. But thank you for bringing that up. :)

2: Rook brought up that I never clarified the reason an ice mage was needed for the job.

This one I cannot explain as it would be spoiling the story. But I will say that I have a reason for this. But whether or not you guys like it, well… I won't go on. XD

Okay…

PHRASES OF AWESOME!

1: 'SING A SAD SONG TO A POTATO!' (yes I have seen otaku lyrics)

2: 'Mikasa su casa…' (ya get it? Attack on titan reference. Am I relevant now?)

3: 'If Saitama was Mexican do you think he would be called Juan punch man?'

So I am still alive but hey, I still need my unscheduled breaks… TOI is hard to write and all.

Stay cool,

-viperhat


	6. Chapter: 6

Hey… I like trains…

So after this brief period of celebration (and receiving tonnes of hate from the children) I have come down from my high on emotion to bring you another chapter (from someone else's computer.).

So… I got a little fanfic famous the other day. I wonder why? XD God forbid that you have an opinion, an unpopular opinion at that or the idiots of Fanfiction will come down on you and smite you.

So people can post rants on pairings, characters and episodes and all that lovely stuff, but if you dare say that a cancerous character has died as you express your happiness then you are officially Hitler? What the actual bollock munching fuck is the internet anymore?!

I blame Tumblr for all of this…

Anyway, mini rant aside, enjoy the next piece of shit from myself…

LET'S READ!

)(-)(-)(-)(

(5 days later)

It has been quiet…

Way too, fucking quiet…

It was as if all of the joy and life had sucked out of the guild and it's members. No matter where you stand the sight of despair and mourning was something that encompassed the entire building, the atmosphere was impossibly heavy and even more suffocating. The sound of people sobbing was noticeable throughout the guild, some of the most rowdy members weren't even smiling, let alone acting up…

This was the sight that Mirajane had been privy too for the fifth day in a row…

Ever since she had returned to the guild with Erza on that faithful day in Crocus and reported the situation she hadn't seen anyone so much as smile since. She swore that some of the members were discreetly glaring at her. She didn't blame them, she deserved it after all. She hadn't been the one to do it but she had effectively killed Gray…

She remembered the incident on the second day after she broke the news to them all… If she had anymore tears to spill she guessed that merely remembering the day would have been enough to set them free.

)(-)(-)(-)(

(3 days ago)

 _No one had seen Cana for two days straight…_

 _Not that Mira really cared all that much, she was busy wallowing in her grief. There wasn't many people in the guild today, obviously, still getting over the loss they had been dealt at her hand. But her brother was in, looking slightly worse for wear. The weird thing being that Natsu was there with a hand on the big guy's shoulder as he sobbed into the table (again). The sight had made Mira bitter, whether that was towards Natsu or herself she didn't even know anymore. All she knew was that it should've been Gray sitting over there. Being the helping hand to her brother. Not Natsu, he was the one who needed the comfort just as much as Elfman did._

 _But that wouldn't be happening ever again…_

 _She could just hear the thoughts being aimed at her, those scathing yet well deserved comments that never left the lips of those who wanted and deserved to say them. 'It's your fault', 'You did this to him', 'Why did you do this?' 'WHY!?'…_

 _Even if that wasn't true, she believed them to a 'T'. The more she sat in the guild the more louder they got, the more cruel they became. She simply couldn't take it anymore today, if she stayed in here any longer she would snap. Quickly wiping the tears away from her eyes Mirajane gathered up her belongings and briskly made her way to the exit._

 _Only for her to jump a foot back as the door was forcefully opened up…_

 _Just as she was about to complain the words clogged up in her throat as her eyes gazed upon the dishevelled form of Cana staggering into the guild hall. She looked absolutely terrible. She obviously hadn't bothered to adjust what she was wearing, the straps of her top barely hung onto her shoulders as she shambled through the doors, not even bothering to look up most of the time. Her hair was a mess, the usual tied up lock's of hair were splayed all over the place, it hung in front of her face and framed her face in a scary way. It was obvious that she washed, but only recently as her hair was still damp and her face looked so too._

 _But looking at her face…_

 _Her normal, laid back and cocky smirk was gone as she visibly grit her teeth hard, as if caging the multitude of sobs and wails that threatened to escape from within. Her breath's were heavy and hitched ever few seconds and her eye's that were so full of life and love two days ago were drained and dulled and dead looking, as if all of the life had been sucked out of them._

 _She was a shadow of her former self and it only took two days to reach the state that she was in…_

 _Looking around, she hadn't seen Levy or Laxus for those two days either. Hell, even Natsu only came back yesterday and even then he still looked like hell._

 _She never saw Erza after she got into her room. She doubted she would for a while either…_

 _The card mage shambled further into the guild, barely looking up. But she must have spotted her at some point because her head snapped up to meet her gaze. Her broken and lifeless expression morphed into one of complete and utter rage…_

 _The silence had reached the point of no return, every single little thing that made a noise had disappeared and Mira found herself begging for it to come back. But Cana's eyes seemed to vacuum all of It into nothingness with the mercy of a demon as a silent fire rapidly built up in her eyes._

" _You..." She had merely whispered those words, her voice not even reaching an octave worthy of being listened to. Yet her voice seemed to reverberate and amplify the longer the listened to it and before she knew it she was on her back, a huge pain springing up around her cheek as she looked up to see Cana standing over her fallen form with both fists clenched tightly._

 _Despite being stronger than her, Mirajane just did nothing, not even as Cana got on her knees and begun to beat on her face like it was a punching bag full of all the things she hated in the world. Fist after fist, pounding after pounding, she just laid there and took it all, her face clearly showing pure agony but relief at the same time…_

" _YOU BITCH!" Cana continued to scream in her face as she battered her face in. "YOU BITCH!" 'Thud', "YOU BITCH!" 'Thud', "YOU MURDERING BITCH!"._

 _Soon enough someone had finally decided to shake off their stupor as they rushed to remove the enraged Card mage off of her. It looked like Elfman, of course her brother would. But Cana was stronger than she looked as she was actually giving the huge boy a hard time as she shouted at him to let go, to let her beat her to death for what she has done. But soon enough she had been removed from her._

 _But she wasn't done with her…_

" _Look at what you've done to us…" her head was hanging low, so no one could see her face, or the pain she must've been going through. "He didn't deserve to die like he did, He never did anything to you. Why did you kill him? Why?"_

 _Mira couldn't answer. She knew it was her fault anyway so she just continued to let Cana say her piece._

" _It should've been you..." She finally growled after a few tense moments, her words making several adults gasp and Natsu stiffen even further. "He was always so good to us, he should be here, not you, it was your fault so why why are you still here!? Huh? WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD INSTEAD!?"_

 _But she never had her questions answered, Mirajane just turned around and began her journey home. Ignoring the screams from Cana, it was understandable. Cana was the first to meet Gray and he was the closest to her, always keeping her company and making her laugh (whether he meant to or not)._

 _She truly wondered why Gray wasn't alive instead of her. He deserved it more than she did. She now realised that she could never possibly be a better person than the ice mage was and in her anger, her rage, her sorrow for losing her little sister, she had taken away someone who had meant a lot to everyone else…_

 _So why was she alive? It really wasn't fair at all…_

)(-)(-)(-)(

It had been three days since that incident. She hadn't spoke to her the card mage since then either, the two spent the time away from each other, one glaring at the other hatefully and the latter just existing, not living but not dead either.

But whilst everything had gone on no one had remembered about Erza. Levy hasn't returned yet either…

Laxus came back yesterday, looking no worse for wear, but Mira could swear that every now and then she could see a few tears escape past his eyes every now and then. She remembered seeing him , Gray and Cana go out on random missions plenty of times. Apparently they were very close despite not talking all that much. Yet another person she had hurt.

But he was slowly getting better, Levy and Erza haven't been seen seen since Gray died. Mirajane didn't remember much about Levy and Gray's relationship. But she did remember hearing Laxus make a comment about Levy having some sort of crush on the Ice mage. It didn't last longer than five months or so, but a crush is a crush nonetheless.

She pretty much knew about Erza's relationship at this point. That mission had been more than an eye-opener for her.

And in all honesty, after five days of hearing nothing from her, she was starting to worry herself too… Maybe she shouldn't have left Erza in the state she was in.

"Hey Mira." She almost jumped at her name being called. Looking over to the source she found Natsu making his way to her table. He had changed in the past few days. His cheery expression had become less cheery, his face set into an expression which was more of a frown than his normal happy face. He wasn't as loud as he was before and his tone had taken a more softer volume than before.

"What?" She mumbled in reply. Clearly not wanting to be bothered. He didn't get the message though. _'Nice to see not everything has changed.'_

Natsu had stopped when he heard her tone, but he had kept his distance long enough. He continued to walk around the table Mira sat at until he reached the opposite side. He pulled out a chair and sat in it as he stared hard Mirajane.

"What. Do. You. Want?.." Mirajane grit her teeth, frustration ebbing it's way back into her system at his stony expression. "If you have come to insult me or wish my death then go right ahead, I deserve it anyway."

She didn't see Natsu flinch at her words…

"No! No, why would I do something so cruel!?" The Dragon Slayer shook his head rigorously, he had seen what had happened over the past five days, people had been a tad more cold towards her afterwards. And as ashamed as he was to admit it, he had been cold towards her to. It was a reason as to why he didn't stop Cana three days ago. "Look, I am still trying to understand what we saw on the lacrima you shared with us. But if I know Ice princess then he probably did it because he wanted to. Hell, he even accepted your apology!"

"But-"

"Please." He held a hand up, effectively silencing her. "Please, just let me finish." He breathed in, swallowing his emotions before continuing. "Look, all I am trying to say is, give everyone some more time, soon enough they will let this go as they remember how he went. It was his decision and his alone. If he saved you and Erza then he obviously cared. And if you continue to live like this then isn't that sort of… Spitting on his grave?"

…

…

…

She blinked…

She blinked again…

Then a third time…

Had Natsu just given her some intelligent advice? Had she experienced another thing that she missed due to her mistreatment of him?

"But are you not sad ab-"

"Of course I am!" He snapped. His eyes beginning to tear up. "He was more than my rival y'know? He was my friend. Now I will never get to insult him again, I can never fight him again and I will never get to see him when he isn't trying to act all tough again!"

He breathed in again, trying his hardest to swallow his anger and sadness before going on. "Sorry, but it is still fresh on my mind." Natsu wiped a tear from his eye. "Listen, no one has seen Erza since you came back, I know she must be taking it pretty hard and I want to make sure she's healthy."

"Since when did you start taking action on stuff like this?" She grumbled silently.

"Well, heh… ummmm. Gramps asked me to." He replied meekly, scratching his head. Mirajane just shook her head.

"Of course." Muttering to herself, she got up with a start. Motioning for Natsu to follow her. "Come on, I want to see her too."

Her cooperation startled him, but seeing her expression switch from annoyed to concerned he instantly recovered with a small smile. She really did care after all…

"Lead the way."

)(-)(-)(-)(

"Gray?..." She whispered out from the corner of her room. Her vacant eyes desperately searching her room for any sign of the raven haired boy. Whether it was due to the dim lighting or the fact that she wasn't really paying attention to anything but the name she didn't know.

But one thing she did know was that she couldn't see him…

"Please, let me see you." Pleading, that was what she was resorting to now? She often wondered what brought her to this state of disrepair. Her best friend, who welcomed her real self into the guild, the one who offered her advice and comfort when she oh so desperately needed it and the one who gave everything he had to keep her and her rival alive until the end?

The fact that he wouldn't be dead if said rival didn't hurt him enough to send him into the forest? Or the fact that he didn't have to run into the forest and instead could have run into the city itself?

She didn't know…

But one thing she did know was that he was gone…

"You promised me..." She whimpered, her voice failing to keep strong before breaking down into a stream of meaningless babble. "You said you would never leave me alone..." And that was all it took, her voice lost it's strength and her fragile composure gave way to her inner sorrow.

She began to weep softly again, which grew into heavy sobs, which then finally gave way to the loudest, most heartbroken wails she had ever been privy too. She cried, begging him to come back, pleading with whatever gods were listening to her to let her see his face again, just one more time. She wondered how many times she had gone through this routine, she could just barely tell that roughly four to five days had passed since she lost the most important person in her life.

But one thing she did know was that he was gone…

Her mind casted back to when Jellal banished her from the tower of heaven, a pivotal moment in her life, forming her partially into who she was today. But even then she never was reduced into the state she was in today.

She wasn't stupid, she knew that she was probably bordering on insanity, pure anger and sorrow driving her into the highway of pure hell. She never felt loss this bad before, she had always secretly went to see Gray when she got like this, he would always hold tightly as she cried herself to sleep and would always make an excuse for when she wasn't found in her dorm room for her reputation.

But he was dead. Killed by savages from another continent. That was where her anger, her pure unfiltered body shaking rage took over from her broken sobs. Which soon turned from sadness to angry weeping. It was their fault he was gone, it was their fault she had lost her best friend…

They had already committed atrocities beyond belief before killing Gray. But they had angered her greatly. They had better not return, or if she caught them she would not let them leave alive.

She promised herself justice for her and her comrades. And absolute, mind numbing pain for them. That orange haired bastard would wish he was never born. The other two would wish they never angered her.

She wouldn't stop until they bled their last drop of blood, until she had watched them beg for the sweet release of death, before slowly ending their miserable lives.

"I promise you Gray." Her heavy breathing conveyed her rage, her words her determination and her eyes her sorrow. "I will avenge you." Her voice came out as a growl, weakly standing up and leaning against her wall. Her eyes now alight with a new-found focus she thought she was never capable of.

Then she smelled something off…

Then she looked down at herself…

"But first a shower would do me some good." She muttered quietly. Staggering up to her bathroom, her life had gone into complete shambles since Mirajane told her of his fate. The guild was probably worried about her. She didn't truly know how long she was gone for, but it was some manner of days she didn't bother remembering. Nor did know if she was even right on her estimate.

But one thing she did know was that things for everyone she knew were going to be different from here on out.

)(-)(-)(-)(

So that was more of a chapter showing the reactions of a few guild members. No Gray this chapter that will be next though and the first huge time skip will take place then. Maybe 3 years into the future, starting with Gray's side of things then FT's.

Also, SHE'S DEAD, SHE'S DEAD, SHE'S MOTHERFUCKING DEAD!

TRIVIA TIME!

Yes I haven't forgotten about this bastard. XD I did say it wasn't going to be on Toi but for side stories I can be more lenient towards it. :)

1: How do you feel about chapter 499?

SHE'S DEAD, SHE'S DEAD, SHE'S MOTHERFUCKING DEAD! XD But seriously, I am pretty sure you have seen my little update on that if not it is called 'About bloody time' I think people may hate my guts now. But the flamers are rather amusing. XD

2: What did you think of suicide squad?

This is the first movie from DC that wasn't absolute bollocks! I was rather impressed, DC villains have always been better than the heroes in my opinion and this movie just just proved why that is.

3: What is the difference between a third-wave feminist and a bomb-jacket?

I shall not tell you just yet. XD

 **But before I leave off, Check out LittleBookWrighter if you are both a fan of attack on titan and a fan of Erwin smith. She has a brilliant story on at the moment called 'Between the books'. I won't divulge anything other than I have a good time reading her creation. :)**

Thanks for reading,

-Viperhat


	7. Chapter: 7

So… I got blocked by a fellow author today… XD

It wasn't my fault that they gave me some illogical hate for having an opinion. I simply responded to his/her hate and they got all triggered. Oh well, chalk another internet argument win up for good ol' Viperhat.

But hey, I made it past a full year without getting blocked, a new record for me, I get blocked by loads of bastards over the internet. XD They must really hate me.

Or I must be correct when I argue back. Who knows?

Anyway, I am sure you are wondering why I have done another chapter to OP before completing the Ice Trials arc on TOI. Well, that's because I am getting my new computer set up within a matter of days. I can't be bothered to start typing the next chapter for it up until the transition is complete.

So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. We finally get a bit of Gray. :)

But I warn you, this has a rather big time skip at the start. I want to try and explain and write Grays transition in a different way.

LET'S READ!

)(-)(-)(-)(

(5 years later)

It had been a long time since he had properly seen the outside world…

Everything had long ago turned into a blur for him, a red haze of pain and suffering that seemed to loop and start over each and everyday. If it even started in the day, he had no clue if he woke up in the day or night anymore his cell was always dark and oh so unbearably cold. His magic had long since been blocked and any natural advantage it gave him had worn off within the first few days he had been held against his will.

His face scrunched up making his malnourished face look like a shrunken head as he had to focus to even keep the discomforted expression up. He remembered those first few terrible months, he remembered the ability to feel… The feeling of actually having more than one extremely negative feeling if it could even be called that. Every now and then, he could remember how those emotions felt. Like how anger felt like hist face was set alight, or how despair made his chest feel ungodly heavy with a huge pressure coiling around him every second he felt it.

He could sometimes even remember how in the ever living fuck he got into this situation in the first place…

The humourless snort he let out didn't echo as it wafted out of his barred cell and through the hallways. The thing that caused it was his thoughts on said matter. No matter how much pain he had went through, no matter what he lost, no matter what they did to him, he still never regretted doing what he did.

Only when he could remember of course…

Once again pain was the most prevalent feature in his 'lifestyle' now. A few cuts, grazes, heavy stabs to his frail chest were some of the many things he could relate the feeling to.

Hell, the only reason they didn't use his arms as their personal pincushion was because they had to amputate them and replace the with new metal counter-parts, of course they did this to him WITHOUT any sort of sedative. He shivered violently, making his weak and starved body even more weaker. His once strong and toned body (for what it could be at that age) had long ago wasted away to a disturbingly thin and unhealthy pale canvass of scars, fresh and somewhat infected cuts and bruises. He swore he could feel one of his ribs wobble when he breathed in…

This was the new life for the once strong ice mage Gray Fullbuster, five years after his capture his state had rapidly deteriorated to what he was today. His arms and legs had been completely shattered and destroyed below the both the knee's and his elbows. The group who he had later found out were named 'the spriggan twelve' decided to fix what they had done to him and gave him his metal limbs. The only reason he could still stand and function somewhat normally was because the limbs weighed a tonne.

He looked around, struggling to keep his head up to see the cell door. The door that both lead to his freedom and to also to his personal hell.

"NOOOO!" He kept his eyes on the door, looking passed the thick steel bars and out to the hallway where he saw two of the guards violently hauling the weak form of a young male, thrashing as he screamed his lungs out. Crying loudly as the guards simply pulled him harder to take him to his destination.

Or his demise…

The place he was in was both huge and full of savages who enjoy watching the unruly prisoners or the ones they despise kill eachother, he hated this, for both being a mage of Fairy tail and the fact that he was normally the one who had to fight most of the time.

The screams got quieter and more damp as they disappeared from the hallway. Gray shivered once again, hollow tears beginning to pool around his baggy, bloodshot eyes. He knew what was going to happen. It was and has always been the same since he had arrived.

The guards would come in and unshackle him (keeping his magic binding cuffs on).

They would drag him to the arena where they held the brutal fights.

They would give him his weapon and then finally.

He would have to kill the poor sap to live…

He felt sick to his empty stomach, he hated every second of that arena. Fighting people who had been tortured along with him. The only thing that kept him from completely ending his own life was two things.

1: He wanted to get back to Fairy Tail, his nakama. Let them know he was alive. He made a promise to some of his friends, those promises could only be kept if he was there for them so he couldn't let them down… not like he let others down before.

2: When the fights ended the people thanked him for ending their life…

He squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to not think about those he killed. Even if they thanked him and left their body with a smile on their face. He could never truly forget the light leaving their eyes, leaving them dull and… dead.

How many had he killed in this retched place? Did he make any of them suffer? He simply couldn't remember, only the most recent killing was present in his mind. It had been a month ago. He had been put up against this petite girl a year or two younger than himself. She had tried but the Ice Mage was desperate and feral, his sheer will to live had in the end been her down. His metal limbs had been too difficult for the poor girl to effectively put him down and in the end, Gray's right hand eventually smashed into her neck with enough to brake it.

He swore he heard her whisper 'thank you' to him after… And that made it worse for him…

Before her there was someone else, before that one there was one before them. Gray was an experienced brawler, despite being shackled up and beaten to near death almost once a week he had managed to stay alive when his opponents were taller and/or stronger.

He didn't care how broken he became, as long as he could just see his family once again… he would focus on keeping them being weighed down by his troubles then. He wanted to enjoy their presence not bring it down.

But first he had to get out. The only problem was…

"Okay, you little shit, time for some fun..."

Gray almost welcomed the beatings… but still had enough in him to mutter out a weak. "Shit..."

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 hours later)

Drip…

Drop…

Drip…

Drop…

The guards had left, chuckling cruelly as they left Gray suspended by his arms making sure to chain the metal wrists to the wall before detaching the chains and slamming the cell door shut with a loud 'Bang'.

The beaten Ice mage had his head hanging low… His eye's raked across his form, spotting multiple lacerations and stabbed wounds that were purposefully avoiding the vital organs. He knew that the surgeons and medical mage's would arrive soon, just enough time for him to think he would be allowed the sweet release of death.

"Hey, you two!" He faintly heard a voice a few feet outside from his cell door. "What are you doing out here! We have orders to vacate the area!"

That got Grays attention… The guards were under strict orders to make sure he never escaped. Another interrogation would be in order in another ten minutes before the medical team arrived. They would normally ask him about some lumen histoire and that his guild knew about.

The problem… he didn't fucking know anything about it… So he was left with the medical teams performing painful healing spells, no drug to sedate him.

But if the guards were being told to leave the area and that probably meant the interrogation would be called off. The guards would come in hear and have their fun with him again before calling it a day.

Hopefully…

"Yes sir!" The guards voices rang out in response to who must have been their superior.

"Good. Now get to the gate! Rebel's have begun to breach our defences, if they get through then we will be forced to kill our valuable prisoner. Master August would be rather upset if that were to happen."

"Yes Major. Cock!"

"Now move it!"

Footsteps were heard leaving the area. But Gray could only hear two. It occurred to him that the major hadn't begun to leave just yet. Then the footsteps began but they were heading in his direction, towards his cell.

He was right, but he tried to hide his feet in their un-done shackles just in time as Major. Cock swiftly entered his slightly hazy field of vision. He could see why people dubbed him as a cock. Because he looked like a complete dickhead.

The major, seeing the prisoner suddenly smiled lecherously, looking like a pervert in heat as he strode over to his battered form. Quickly casting some healing spells to close up the major wounds but not enough to stop the pain.

Major. Cock inhaled harshly, sounding like a vacuum as he raked his eyes over the blood stained floor and up to meet Gray's eyes.

"Ello..." He drawled. Sounding like a pervert as well as looking like one. "My name is Niiiiiiiiilllllllllleeee Cock."

Despite the stupid name, Gray didn't laugh. He looked on blankly as Nile continued to speak about perverse subjects.

"I have 'ad many good ol' shhaaaaagggggsss." He droned on in his disgusting tone of voice. "But the best I 'ad was this MILF named Camilla le blaaaaannnnncccc." He inhaled again and groaned, as if he were aroused mightily by this MILF.

Gray had never felt so disgusted and audibly violated in his life. And he's been shacked up in this shit hole for Mavis knows how long...

It took a while for the perverted Major to get to his point (hehe) but when he did he swivelled to face his prisoner. His perverted grin getting somehow wider.

"You better hope we beat those annoying rebels or you may see the end of your usefulness. Not that you've been much of a help anyway." He stepped closer and Gray saw an opportunity arising. "In fact, you have been a handful since day one." He got even closer, unaware of Grays shaky legs. "But I am sure if you do exactly what I say I could… Persuade the higher ups to let you go on." He ended, breathing on Grays face…

And that was it…

With effort, Gray managed to swing his leg into Nile's arm and shatter it. Before hooking his other leg around the guards neck. Nile was about to scream in pain and shock but was quickly subdued by Gray's legs.

Struggling against Nile, Gray brought him closer before whispering into his ear.

"Release my arms..." His voice was raspy and dry, an effect of not being used in a long time. In fact Gray was surprised by how deep and threatening he sounded...

"N-No…." Nile shivered, before whimpering as Gray squeezed his neck tighter.

"I'll kill you..."

"Y-Y-You f-fairies don't… k-k-kill…."

Gray just squeezed tighter, forcing Nile to fight for his air. He was getting more scared by the minute.

 _'Pathetic animal…'_

After another minute of… negotiating Nile finally relented, digging into his pockets and fumbling with the massive key chain. It was awkward for him to hit the lock, missing and scraping across Gray's metallic hand loads of times before finally being able to unlock his chain around the right arm.

"Thanks..." Gray whispered, before grabbing Nile's hand and yanking the key chain away from and braking the perverted guards neck and allowing his corpse to slump to the floor, dead.

Gray didn't even wince at his handy work…

He shakily brought his metal hand up to his restrained left, unlocking it slowly and quietly. Slamming against the ground painfully, making him whimper as the skin started to bruise. His bony body was weak and malnourished, he still had the magical suppression cuffs on his wrists.

He weakly reached over to grasp at the key chain, Looking closer, he could see a tiny figurine of what looked to be an anime Character, it read underneath 'Nile Dok: owned by Niiiillllleeee Cock.'

Gray was glad he killed the pig…

But he looked over to his now open cell door and then looked at Nile Cock. He was too weak and on the verge of passing out from the exertion he had done already. If he were to try and fight his way out he would surely die.

 _'Clothes… His clothes.'_ His eyes went as wide as they could, being heavy and hazy. His body desperately screamed at him to stop. But he knew if he stayed here he would never get another chance to escape again.

Slowly, sloppily and clumsily he peeled the rags off of his body, leaving him nude for the time being. He bent down and began to disrobe Nile's corpse. Peeling the Black and white trench coat from his back along with the Blue suit jacket and white shirt. Then he worked on removing the black suit pants and the boots.

His knees felt like they would fall off by the time he was finished, but when he managed to slip on the clothes, he felt his body tremble with the added weight. The pain in his legs became more intense and every time the material moved against his skin he winced, but he had to keep the pain off of his mind for now.

It was when he finally managed to keep his boots on that remembered when he would strip all of the damn time… It almost made him want to smile…

Then he heard an explosion and he started to make his way out of his cell. Leaning against the wall heavily, trying to keep his breathing under control. Every step felt like it would be his last, his chest was tight and constricting and the further he went on the more intense the feelings got.

This continued for 5 minutes as he tried to find an exit, trying to fight off the pain and tiredness. But he got distracted from his goal when he heard a voice.

"H-h-hey… I-i-i-i heard an e-e-e-explosion..." A tiny female voice lilted through the air and into his ears, slowly turning his head he saw the form of a girl with greasy chin length hair. Her body was restrained against the wall like he was and she had magical blocking shackles to.

But there was something familiar about though…

"L-Let me out. I-I-I don't want to die here." She whimpered pitifully. Looking up he could see her dull green eyes as they bore into his own. "P-Please..."

Looking around weakly, he saw no one around, but he could hear the fighting happening outside, which meant he was close to the exit. Closer to his freedom.

Sighing lightly, he lifted his head up to shine some light on his face and walked over to her cell slowly, as not to aggravate his body too much.

"Your name." His hoarse voice rasped. Causing the girl to flinch.

"N-Nano..." She replied quietly, as if she was going to be punished for speaking.

But that was when his hazy memory clicked. Nano?

"Second name?"

"Leaf."

Nano… Leaf… Nano Leaf?!

She had been captured to?

His shock must've shown because she continued to stare warily, not confident to revert her gaze.

But after a bit, he managed to cough out his shock.

"Nano?" Gray couldn't believe it, he helped her the first time and then she got into more trouble once again. "I don't…. b-ACK!" He coughed hard, sending blood to the floor and an iron, coppery taste to fill his taste buds. But he got himself together quickly, making his way to the cell door and fumbling with the keys before managing to open her door. "I don't.. believe it..."

She looked confused, but her eyes widened at his tone.

"I guess you found trouble..." He held back another cough. "after… Nez."

That was when she finally got why he was acting so… shocked.

"G-Gray!?"

)(-)(-)(-)(

I always feel like I fail to do these darker chapters justice…

But here we are again, another chapter of OP. This time with Grays point of view and a massive time skip. (Little fact: canonically, this is the time when Lisanna would have 'died'.) So I want to try and explain some of the past events in flashbacks. Some may have a chapter all to there self.

But now I have to rant… Again…

RANT TIME!

Chapter 500. The chapter that was supposed to blow my socks off (even the cum crusted ones XD JOKING!) and continue to keep the trend of great chapter every hundred or so.

But one thing really got to me and had me all triggered.

Mashima revived Juvia… He fucking did it. A chapter after her 'death' too! Fuck Mashima, fuck him, fuck those who asked for her revival and her marriage to Gray (I've seen the comment on many social media sites. -_-) and fuck Mashima….!

I have honestly lost all interest in this final arc now. The tension has been destroyed, the danger doesn't exist and everything is a fucking disappointment. I mean watching Gray throttle Invel to paste was pretty cool but now the reason has been nulled. So that entire fucking chapter was pointless.

This is why I tell my friends that Mashima has lost all capability of writing a good story anymore and this is why you don't allow fandoms to take control of the pairings! They not only fuck it up, but they fuck it up in a massive way! It gets bad enough that shit like this happens!

Fairy Tail's quality has honestly gone down hill. It started in the Avatar arc and the final arc has been one big disappointment…

I honestly never thought I would ever dislike Wendy either. But this chapter also proved me wrong in that regard.

All in all, Mashima is where Creative and good story writing goes to die…

…

…

…

Anyway, thank you for reading again and I will see you when the computer actually gets installed… :)

-Viperhat


	8. Chapter: 8

Welcome back to One's Perseverance, this is going to be the first out of (most likely three) chapters before TRE gets its second season. I may also do a few more of the GrayXWhoever one shots (I may also change it from just romance to friendship, familial bonds, etc.)

Its been a while, and that's good, means I want to write more of it. Also! I think I may have figured out August and his magic! It is just my opinion but do give it a read…

I think August has a copy-cat type magic whilst having some sort of shield like magic to protect him.

Then again, that may be stupid, given his seemingly seamless transition from magic to magic. I guess we'll find out soon though.

Well, enjoy I guess. XD

)(-)(-)(-)(

(5 years later – Fairy tail)

"Yo, happy!" A loud, obnoxious yet cheerful voice bellowed. The owner seemingly completely tone deaf and oblivious to the discomfort of those sitting around the tables or at the bar as it reached the ears of a blue feline that was perched on top of the bar counter. Gnawing at a raw fish held within its paws.

"Aye!" Happy replied, his eyes darting from the fish to the pink (salmon) haired young man striding towards him, the big grin never leaving his face as he did.

It had been a long and hard trial for the Dragon slayer, something the blue cat had respected despite his pestering 24/7. The death of Lisanna had been hard on the two of them, driving Natsu to be subdued more often and less obnoxious than he had ever been. It was only by the grace of Mavis that they both had Gray to rely on (in their own different ways).

Gray had been their rock for those hard few weeks. Always pulling away Natsu from his depression by giving him a mobile punching bag to focus and unleash his anger on. Gray would always hand over well cooked fish to himself, which he would gratefully take. These were two main things he did for the two of them when he wasn't busy with the other members of the guild.

The guild was starting to recover from then on, Gray doing everything he could to help them and set them on track again had definitely taken effect. Natsu had become himself again (for the most part), Erza had started getting bossy again and Elfman had begun to start training like a madman, quickly building muscle and strength faster than any other kid in the guild, Gray and Erza included.

However Mirajane had not changed, in fact she only got worse with time, shutting out any outside help and isolating herself from everyone had not been good for her. Over the weeks it had been effecting her she had started threatening those around her to leave her alone.

But besides her, things had actually begun to look u for the first time in a month…

But then Gray had died…

And things went to utter shit…

After the two girls had gotten back it was like they had brought a cloud of sorrow and grief with them. Mirajane had left the guild angry and she had come back a sobbing and broken mess. Those first few weeks had been hell for her, the blue cat, despite his young age back then he could tell that those stare she got were stares of blame, stares of anger and stares of pity.

He could see how she had tried to isolate herself after the outburst from Cana, but what surprised Happy was when Natsu had stepped up after that and had started helping her, stopping the stares, dissolving the pity and the sorrow was becoming lighter and lighter with each passing day. Natsu had effectively stood up to take the place of his best friend. Whether it was out of respect or a feeling of necessity Happy didn't know. But it did Mira good.

But Erza?

Erza was never the same…

It was like the stern girl that had grown and cultivated the current generation had been killed along with her best-friend that day. For the first week no-one had seen a hint of her anywhere, but then when she came back she barely talked to anyone, barely interacted at all with anyone in fact.

Even when Makarov had spoke to her she only just gave one words answers, trying to move the conversations along as fast as possible. It was as if she was no longer Erza Scarlet but some sort of alien wearing her skin.

It was heart breaking to watch her devolve in such a way…

When the S-Class trials came by she had absolutely decimated the competition, it wasn't even a question as to who was going to win as she mercilessly beat Mirajane into the ground with a furious determination in each of her powerful strikes. It wasn't a fight between the two girls, this was a one-sided slaughter…

Needless to say, Erza had been deemed the winner of the trials and she had been upgraded to an S-Class mage the very minute she had won. Many of her friends, including Happy himself believed this was where Erza could finally turn herself around with the new responsibility that came with the status.

Unfortunately, they were wrong…

no sooner than a day after the inauguration had she suddenly up and left the guild, various papers in her hand. Everyone believed her to be testing out an S-Class mission for the first time. But she didn't come back for two months after she had left the first time. Even then as she came back to the guild she would be gone the next day and would come back after a various amount of time had passed.

This had been a non-stop cycle ever since she had become S-Class… It got to the point where everyone would only see her 10 or 11 times a year. Now she was a rare occurrence within the guild and its growing population. A sad reminder of the damage Gray's death had dealt to the once ever joyful guild.

And it didn't feel like it would be stopping anytime soon…

"Yo, Happy! You still there bud?" It was Natsu's loud voice that had made the blue cat snap out of his stupor, shaking his head and breathing in after jumping at his friends sudden verbal assualt.

"Aye sir!"

That got a laugh out of the Dragon Slayer and Happy brimmed with glee from the sound. It wasn't everyday Natsu would laugh so loudly and freely anymore. He would still laugh but his companion could see him hold back, as if he was attempting to stifle it for some reason. When he let out his full expressive capabilities was when Happy felt like the guild lit up that much more in the world. Like a beacon for positivity that reached out across the entire world.

"You must be out of it today huh?" Natsu grinned, lightly digging his elbow into the cats shoulder. "What had you looking like that?"

Happy grinned his usual grin, thinking of what he should say to his friend and partner…

"Fish!"

)(-)(-)(-)(

"Mira!"

A high-pitched voice rang out through the guild hall, Mirajane lifted her head up at her name being called, surprise entering her being as she looked around the area to spot the perpetrator and finally found it.

Or him…

She watched as the little boy bounced his way to her spot in the corner in the guild. Little Romeo Conbolt was always so damn happy. Although it was to be expected due to his young age.

Mirajane sighed and tried to fight the little smirk on her face as he finally got to her. Because of her actions towards Gray all those years ago she had been treated noticeably different by many people. The only people left who treated her normally were her brother, Natsu and Makarov these days and it wasn't a comforting fact.

But sweet little Romeo had been born years after the incident and was unaware of the stigma that encapsulated her. He just found her loud voice and insults towards his father really amusing. He seemed to like being around her.

Macao may not support his sons behaviour towards her but he could go and fuck himself for all she cared. He long since lost the right to even speak to her and she wasn't about to give him a free pass over everyone else.

"What is it brat?" She grunted, watching the boy giggle at her words. A sigh escaped her lips and she was about to walk away but before she could the little boy had suddenly set her foot on fire with a very pathetic flame. But realising the harmful magic on her body the take-over mage yelped and waggled her foot in shock, trying to get rid of the fire.

Luckily, because of the casters weakness the fire didn't damage her, but it left a nasty mark on her boot. Romeo had been giggling throughout the entire charade as people from all over the guild had turned to see what the commotion was about.

"What was that for brat!?" She yelled, a sudden bout of anger filling her as she glared daggers at the boy. Making him shift uncomfortably.

"Daddy said to do it..." He answered innocently, trying not to stutter at the pure anger in her face. Which then turned into a hot rage.

Mirajane inwardly growled. Macao had been the least kind to her during the time after the incident. At least once a week he would make his displeasure for her clear by giving her a glare and maybe insulting her once or twice a day, reminding her of her failiure as a friend and guildmember of Fairy Tail.

But that wasn't what annoyed her…

"Okay, sorry about getting pissy with you. Go and see mommy okay? Get someone to take you home." She patted the boy on the head awkwardly, turning him to face Wakaba before she stormed off towards the navy blue haired mage.

Macao had watched the little scuffle take place. He couldn't help but feel happy about watching the girl get distressed about something. His fist clenched, anger seeping into his veins at the thought of her sins. He had liked Gray, the boy had been annoying, yet straight forward and endearing to an extent. His antics had somehow managed to even calm Erza back before the incident.

He didn't deserve to go out that way…

Not at all…

The fire mage didn't know when he had started treating the take-over mage this way, but he wasn't going to stop now. Mira could easily kick his ass back and forth but it no longer occurred to him.

So when he found himself on his back, a sharp pain shooting up his body from the impact to the ground. He didn't complain, he only watched Mirajane's smouldering eyes bore into his own, her rage and stress becoming evident as time went on.

"Stop being an ass Macao!" His ears rung from the sheer volume the girl had put out. If her initial bee-line over to him hadn't caught any attention then her loud threat certainly had. "You have made your point!"

That stirred the anger within the adult, was Mirajane so heartless as to ignore her past crime? Had she already forgotten about Gray? Was she unapologetic about it if she even did?

Was she just plain evil? Or just turning evil?

"Have I?" He snarled back. Shoving the girl off of him as he stood back up. "I clearly haven't made it clear enough for you have I?!"

"What are you talking about you old bastard!?" The White haired girl trembled, a mixture of emotions mostly foreign to her. Macao had been mostly kind to her when she had first arrived. Making sure herself and her siblings were fine and healthy and even getting them a new set of clothes when they had arrived.

This man was the stark contrast, a man who had been turned against her by her own actions. A man who's entire view of her was changed in one day.

A man who clearly disliked her…

Everyone stared at the two, all knowing that things were going to get heated within minutes but inwardly debating whether Macao was in the right or Mirajane. As horrible as it was for most of the guild members to realise they couldn't help it.

Mirajane had become stigmatised, it was a simple as that. Her Actions towards Gray had shaped the guilds behaviour towards her all those years ago. Very few people trusted her, very few people gave her the time of day and very few people looked out for her.

Eitherway, for the most part she was alone…

"Let me say it for you in simple terms!" Macao steamed. His glare becoming more emotionally driven than ever. As if he was no longer thinking about his words before speaking. "You killed Gray- and you are getting the rightful treatment for it!"

"I never killed him!" Mira screamed back at him, although she wasn't sure of who she was trying to convince any more. Macao or herself?

"Your actions towards him led to his death!" Macao retorted hotly. His glare levelled with her death stare. "And too me, that counts as murdering a man..."

Whatever she was going to say in response got caught in her throat when she realised that she had no answer to his statement. It was all true, as horrible as it was it didn't matter when the facts also backed it up. Everyone had seen the lacrima by now and have all reacted in their own ways.

Elfman, her ever loving brother- he had been angry at first, but when he finally got his head back in the game, he understood the reasons to her actions that day. Losing someone had always been a hard thing for the Take-Over Mage, whilst others were at least able to move on after a long while she would always have immense trouble moving on from the incidents. Elfman understood but rightfully condemned her for the horrid behaviour, but he still stood by her side.

Natsu was devastated by Gray's death, shocking for the amount of verbal and physical abuse the two hurled towards each other on a daily basis. He didn't even comment on how Gray had suddenly began equalling two of the deadly opponents with his revealed skill in combat.

Normally the Dragon Slayer would get up in a rut about such a sudden increase in his rivals fighting prowess. But he just stared off and into the distance from where the lacrima had gone off afterwards… Tears slowly rolling down his cheeks as he tried to gauge what had just happened and how to react to it.

He forgave her, but her never was same around her since then…

Then there were the odd few like Macao, angry and bitter towards her. But they had never been as vocal or kinaesthetic as Macao himself.

And she secretly, so deep down inside of herself that barely recognised it… She encouraged it…

That realisation had stopped her train of thought, leaving her an emotional mess with no real way of defending herself. Looking around the guild though she could see, _feel_ , everyone looking at them. Or more precisely her….

So she bolted out of the guild, knocking down multiple guild-members and almost trampling the newly arrived Natsu and Levy as she thundered down the streets and riverbanks, she vaguely wondered if she had seen a flash of intense red on the shore of one of said banks but her emotions wouldn't allow her to stop now…

Not when she was so close to home…

)(-)(-)(-)(

It wasn't much of a house… But it was home…

Her home…

The small, cosy little cottage that bordered the thick woods behind it stood out like a sore thumb among the brown and green of the shrubbery and wood. It was pleasant, if not slightly old looking.

The light plume of smoke that emanated from the small, red brick chimney barely registered to her, but it gave the sign that Elfman was home.

That was good…

The normal wooden door was closed, but not locked when she tried it, easily giving her passage with a quick twist of the handle. It was odd, almost like Elfman had expected her home around now.

Oh wait…

He did…

Looking around, she saw the usual pots of stew on the stove, she almost found the will to smile, Elfman had always like meals being done traditionally over magically. When inquired upon he would simply respond with 'It had a better taste to it'…

She had to agree, she would miss it though…

She had a plan In motion since she crossed the riverbanks… It was ballsy, but she simply couldn't bare it any more. This tiny incident was the straw that broke the camels back.

"Hey sis… How was your day?" Came his voice from across the other end of the living room. His masculinity had surely been his biggest change. His body had definitely got more than its fair share of androgen over the past few years.

She had changed too, but it was her… Tits and ass that really got the attention from the Estrogen… Mira was still sure that was the only reason Laxus still gave her any attention at all.

The pervert…

"Shit, Elfman, shit..." She responded, voice dead…

She didn't even have to be in the same room as him to know that his face fell at those words. She was going to miss him dearly. She couldn't bare to think what she was going to put him through, but she was selfish and childish at best…

' _I'm so sorry Elfie...'_

)(-)(-)(-)(

(The next day)

Elfman awoke with a thorough stretch of his huge arms…

He glared at his open curtains, inwardly damning Mirajane for her continuous meddling with his magnificent curtains… She did it everyday to wake him just get him up early as he wasn't a morning person.

But something felt off, as he woke up he could feel like something was missing, like he was on his own on a desert island…

With a heavy feeling in his heart he went downstairs to the living room, seeing the pots and pans still unwashed and the fire still on from last night… That was when he started to worry.

But then he went into the kitchen, and saw a small, crumpled up piece of paper with a messy scrawl along its blank canvass.

Upon it were two words…

Words that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

' _I am leaving… goodbye my dearest brother,_

 _-Mirajane Strauss'_

)(-)(-)(-)(

Fucking done…

Boring chapter, I sowwy, plz don't abuse me masters and mistresses. I is a good servant yes? I-I did what you asked yeas?

Okay, so I will do two more of these chapters ( maybe more if I want to) and then I will add a few more one-shot stories to Gray's ships and shit and THEN TRE is going to see its first sequel…. Lol

TRIVIA TIME!

(Bringing back old memeories since WW2!)

1\. How do you find the recent chapters of FT's manga?

Either shit or somewhat mediocre… Mashima has fucked it to the core… Even August disappointed me (totally called it though!) and GRAYS FUCKING SECRET WEAPON WAS FUCKING ICED SHELL? NOT EVEN SOME TYPE OF AWESOME ICE MAGIC THAT COULD GIVE SOME TYPE OF EDGE?

I am not even mad that Gray didn't get a good secret for how long it was built up… I just can't believe that Mashima built it up just to show off that he has nearly no idea how to develop a character…

And of course… Natsu can now, suddenly equal Zeref without the dragon fire magic from last year…. How convenient huh? Meanwhile you have Gray getting pointless scenes or Erza one-shotting people who are not meant to be one-shotted or beaten with a couple hits…

I am now actually finding myself hating what Erza and Wendy have become…

#FuckMashima Thats what I say…

2\. If you could replace one character from any Anime, who would it be and why?

Juvia, because anyone is better than her…. Literally, get a Jar jar Binks in their and it is still more entertaining than she will ever be…

3\. Dragon Slayer or Devil Slayer?

Devil Slayer, Devils are supposed to be an equal to gods yes? The darkness to their light? So a measly dragon stands no chance against them… Just putting it out there…

Anyway, you have been watching another shitty chapter from the most sporadic writer to ever stain this site. Well done and have an average day (I am such a rebel XD)

Reviews and Criticisms are welcome.

-Viperhat


	9. Chapter: 9

**I tried uploading this twice, but every time i viewed it i had the syntax glitch you normally find. I am trying once more and i hope it works as i ahve not been able to upload for a whole MONTH.**

Hey. I am funny. Laugh at me.

Now…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(Gray)

It had been such a long time since he had last even thought of the now older girl in front of him. Her harmless magic, her light voice that could calm the rowdiest of people down, her seemingly glowing white hair. Everything about was completely different now, surprising him for the slightest of moments before his pain brought out of his revere.

"Gray? Is that really you?..." She blinked, slightly delirious from what he could see. Almost as if she couldn't tell if what she was seeing was real or fictional. In many ways, it was a worse fate than what he had endured…

"Nano?" He had to hear her voice again, just to make sure he himself wasn't hallucinating either. He had been strung up in this forsaken hellhole so long, just seeing or even hearing some form of his past felt better than anything in the world…

If there was any more…

"Help..."

There it was, that voice again. Beautiful music to his tortured soul and that swelling feeling around his chest bloomed instead of exploded for the first time in years. It caressed him making him flinch from its foreign sensations, how long had it been since he had felt any sort of positive feeling?

However, despite the tremendous agony he was in, he knew that he couldn't just leave her here. No amount of torture would make him leave an old friend behind. His mental state was questionable, but he made sure his morals would stand the test of time.

He had lost everything else, his limbs, his happiness, his mind (to an extent). He would not lose his humanity to anything…

He knew what he was going to do before he had even done it…

"Hang… on..." He pulled the cell door open with much effort, his strained muscles screaming in pain as he did so before limping inside Nano s cell room. Squinting painfully, he saw what was keeping his friend upright. She was being held up by the same double layered steel shackles that he had been privy too, only difference being she had no magic binders on like he had.

Luckily, the disgusting pig had the keys to each cell on the floor. Only problem was finding the one key out of possibly hundreds of keys.

"I'll have you… out… in… a second…." He rasped, throat constricting from the pain.

His metal hands fumbled awkwardly, trying hard to separate the keys as his small amount of patience began to dwindle. The key-chain just held too many keys for him to shuffle through before he'd faint from fatigue…

His body screamed at him, the added weight of his limbs only made the pain and sense of tiredness worse by the second. Even as he shoved one of the keys into the lock his vision started going fuzzy. If he wanted Nano to get out of here alive he would need to act fast.

Luckily, that particular key made the one sounds both mages wanted to hear…

'Click'

)(-)(-)(-)(

The sharp and distinct sound rang through the confines of Nano's cell. Forcing her to mask the feeling of elation that threatened to overtake her body and mind. Even though she wasn't as emaciated as most in the prison, she could feel her arms struggle to move themselves, even the motion in her wrists was a struggle for the most part.

Then as the door opened at a painfully slow rate she watched Gray slowly limp towards her, she could tell that her treatment had been comparable to a five star hotel in comparison. She had to fight the ever-looming fatigue when she was forced out of her prison but watching Gray clumsily stumble and sway in an attempt to merely keep himself standing showed her just how evil and malicious one human could be to another.

It was almost as if Gray was a puppet with only one string left to cut. His arms would remain at his sides unless he bent forward, to which gravity to would pull them towards the floor. His head was almost swinging everywhere and she could never get a clear look at his now different face.

He had grown up. And this change was most certainly for the worst…

Even as he found the key to her cuffs and roughly forced it in each cuff she never gauged his face, it was like he was trying to keep it hidden.

Then gravity suddenly took her to the floor. Landing on her side, Nano looked up to see her old friend and saviour sway on the spot, watching her from beyond the veil of his greasy matted and now extremely long hair.

She could barely make out the small grin he gave her, before his grin turned into more of an 'O' shape as he sighed heavily and abruptly hit the floor with a loud thump.

Her sudden fear for him was made evident as she gasped out in worry before crawling over to him, her knees groaning at the harsh contact with the hard ground beneath her.

"Gray, get up!" She shook his now limp body, almost gasping at feeling nothing but bone underneath the clothing. He would have been lucky if he had some form of flesh or skin it seemed. She couldn't fathom how much damage had come to him, but it didn't take a genius to realise that death would have been a far less cruel fate than what her old friend had received in its place.

Whimpering, Nano pushed her body to a squatting position, arms locked under Gray's armpits. Nano had made her mind up fully now…

She WAS going to get her friend out of here. No matter the danger the commotion outside purposed.

Gray was heavy, ridiculously heavy. In fact, Nano realised that the weight he had couldn't have been natural. The clothes he was wearing hung loosely on him and his face was so gaunt that it looked like it would turn itself inside out at any moment. Whatever he had on him that was heavy was clearly going to make this difficult for her, maybe impossible for her to get him out.

But that wouldn't stop her from trying her best, just like Gray had for her all those years ago…

So she heaved with everything her emaciated body could muster…

And she barely made him budge…

From then on, desperation started to overflow, her worry evolved into panic, her frustration morphed into blind yet controlled rage. She even pulled a hamstring in her right leg from the sheer weight she was trying to shift. Then pain joined in on the emotional fray within herself and due to the nature of the injury she had given herself it now fully impossible for her to even get Gray to move an inch any more.

And she had barely moved him out of the cell they had been in…

Tears started to well up in her eyes as she realised one fact. One tiny fact that made her feel worse than dirt. One fact that suddenly broken her determination to nothing more than a small, extinguished flame.

She began to sob, choked and insipid hiccups breaking her down into a pile of tears on the floor in the empty halls.

"I'm sorry..." Nano wept, knowing it wouldn't do anything to help him. He was simply just to too heavy and weak for her tiny frame to even make his own budge. Whatever he had on him was too much for her to handle.

She stayed there, unknowing of what to do for Gray or herself. But she found the strength to get up and look through the small window. What she saw both gave the answer to the guards sudden disappearance… and filled her with hope.

Outside of the huge complex, seemingly hundreds of stories below. Nano saw what looked to be fighting, a battle, a flat out war-zone! The guards that had tortured many for years upon years seemed to be getting decimated by a warring faction that held a significant advantage over them. The guards had nothing besides their swords spears and very few mages.

This faction however, was clearly out-matching them. From the looks of it, she could see fire, water and blasts of air bombarding the tall walls of the building. The smell of smoke and the rush of excess air wafted into her nostrils.

She could make it out of here. She could be free!

Then she looked back towards Gray and her despair came back…

She had only been with him for a minute or two. But seeing him here, able to free her made her feel safe again, for the first time in years. Seeing him in such a state, where he couldn't even stand on his own damn feet scared her more than anything that Nez Boomz could have ever done.

Looking out of the window again, she could see the prison guards were being pushed back into the building, A Miasma of red and blue that lit up the entire battlefield, merged with the seemingly infinite barrage of arrows proved to be unrelenting and too much for the moderately armed guards and defensive battalions to handle. Squinting her eyes, Nano could just see the small group of men struggling with a huge crank near the entrance of the gate and even through her weak and blurry vision, Nano could tell that they were trying to close the gate.

That was her only chance of escape. The struggle of the men was evident, even from the distance and height she was viewing the display from. But they were still making progress, slowly but surely the huge gate was hovering lower and lower towards the ground with each passing second, the gate was still high and away from the ground however.

If she ran, she could make it…

but she had to go now…

Briefly, she looked at Gray's unconscious form, weak and raspy breathes running through him, making him shake, clearly not used to sleeping on the ground for must have been for years upon years.

Nano knew that she couldn't help him, it took her so much time to just move him out of the jail cell, to move him all the way down the complex and out of the entranceway would take to long her them to both get out before that gate closed and if that gate closed, there would be no way for her nor Gray to escape.

Her tears started trickling down her face again. But she stood as tall and strong as she could, feeling the unforgiving weight of her soon to be decision adding to the strain her weak body. She knew what she had to do and she knew she HAD to do it now…

"Forgive me..." Grief and sorrow rushing through her veins, Nano turned away from her friend and began limping as fast as she could to whatever stairway she could find. Leaving the Ice Mage to his fate and securing a possibility for her to escape and live on…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(5 months later)

Everything… felt weird…

He was used to waking up from his restless sleeping with a jolt of agony waking him up with a start, the sound of a guard or two snickering at his pain now and then like they were having the time of their lives. He was used to being introduced to the waking world by the cold, damp and tight cuffs that he had become accustomed too over the years of his torturous existence…

But, as his eyes snapped shut when a piercing light assaulted his groggy eyes the first thing he felt was the slight sharp pain from said intense light. It was weird, it was the first thing he felt instead of a sudden miasma of unbearable and maddening pain that would instantly snap him into a jarring state of awake but sleepy condition.

But no, he felt a slight discomfort in his EYES of all things. No sharp and sudden agony, no malicious laughing from any guards and no utter rude awakening…

Just discomfort, a headache almost but not consistent enough to be one. It didn't reach to both sides of his head and it didn't cover his temple fully as much as it just cause some small pain around his eyeballs. The light had been a surprise after-all…

Waiting for the pain to go away was a nice change in routine too, instead of waiting until the pain was barely liveable he found it to recede into a pleasant dullness that he had forgot the feeling of, the lack of intensity almost startled him into forgetting what had happened before he had lost consciousness…

' _Nano… I was… I was freeing… Nano...'_ Remembering was really easy, another jolt of pain from the sudden movement brought on by his shock and foreign feelings washed through him but quickly went away almost as fast as it came.

But he wasn't ready for the next slight pain as he re-called memories from YEARS back. His first time fighting in that fucking arena, his first time killing one of those poor bastards he was put against. The first time he was beaten and broken by the guards and the medical teams first stitching of his body…

Oh how he had screamed, cried, fuck… even begged for death at times…

He remembered waking up with his limbs completely removed, only to find metal imposters in they're place. It was painful and he could remember that painful rubbing of the clearly poorly treated incisions being grated raw by his new appendages. The rubbing became normal when his defensive apathy and lifelessness took over…

He remembered those times he became violently ill or feverish, courtesy of the metal arms and legs scratching at the wounds behind them. Those medical sessions only served to keep him alive and functioning for whoever's barbaric needs.

And there was one thing that was always repeated, over and over again, like a mantra, a cacophony of the same sentence that they seemed hell-bent on repeating to him, over and over… again and again…

It always had to do with that one phrase…

 _Lumen Histoire…_

 _Lumen Histoire..._

 _Lumen Histoire…_

 _Lumen Histoire…_

 _Lumen Histoire…_

Just what was this 'Lumen Histoire' thing?

It must have been the only reason he was kept around. Anyone else who got too weak or sick would have been put down with no hesitation. But they made sure that he was kept alive…

It was horrible…

The numerous medical inflictions should have killed him by now, the dirty cell block should have given him more than just a slight infection… Those healers were relentless though, giving him constant pills to fight off anything that could have harmed him, cleaning cuts and dressing the wound on his limbs and checking the fusion between metal and flesh every week…

They would check his body mass, if it got to low for their liking they would force feed him the nutrition he needed just to keep him alive. Who-ever wanted him alive were going to great lengths to make sure he didn't pass away. Stitches, gauze, surgery even.

Luckily, the pain that had been present before finally went away completely, leaving him feeling weird, but a good kind of weird. He felt fine…

He was enjoying the peace and to what he had only noticed as quiet. He didn't want to open his eyes, fearing the worst, it could just be a dream, a physical memory of sorts. But alas, he would have to eventually wake up.

Steeling himself for the inevitable, he counted to three in his head. Getting ready for whatever lay beyond the veil of his eyelids.

He snapped his eyes open, looking around frantically and squinting hard from the harsh bright light before taking in his surroundings.

He was amazed, no, he was frozen solid...

He expected to see his cell all over again, the multiple cracks and the damp corner of which he was always begging to be thrown in, even If it was yellow and smelly.

But instead, he saw an equally small but much more homely room. A warm brown paint on planks of wood that clearly looked like a cabin house from its design. Looking down, he saw a soft white blanket covering his entire body which not only made the room feel warm, but also made him very warm too.

This was NOT what he was expecting… at all…

Trying to move was met with a severe pains, he almost held in a all of his pain but a sharp gasp pierced the room like a knife through warm butter. The pain wasn't much, but he still flinched hard at the sensation.

He looked down to where the pain had come from and he could see why he had such a violent pain. His chest was covered in tiny tubes that were attached to him. They all converged into one big IV drip that stood strong next to his pitiful body like a guardian angel.

In fact, now that he was looking, he could see nothing that could be considered bad or anything close to bad.

He refused to think about the forbidden thought. He had long since given up on getting out of that wretched place, he had tried at first, he had tried so hard and so many times…

And in the end, it didn't even matter…

After the first twelve failures he had given up entirely, the punishments he received were no longer worth whatever was left of his shredded sanity. Soon he was broken, subdued, destroyed…

To think about freedom… it was almost that one taboo subject to him, never to be uttered, thought of or even something to aim for. However, it became a persistent thought among his cluttered and random mind, purging most of the apathy and letting room in for the slight glimmer of hope he had left.

"...Hello?..." He rasped, his voice clearly rough and dry from a lack of use…

The response was almost immediate…

A sudden cacophony of thuds, bashing and clattering set him off right away, tense and ready for whatever beating came his way. It was a messy sound, startled almost, only meant he'd suffer for their own lack of awareness.

But when an old man in a doctors coat stumbled through the door and looked at him with a hopeful gaze he was fairly confused.

The man was old-ish. Looking to be roughly fifty or older in appearance, he looked very slender, in fact, he looked so slim that the coat he wore seemed to drape over him like deaths cloak if was washed with white dye. He seemed to be very tired looking, akin to what a hard-working doctor would look like all round. The grey-ish black hair was swept to one side, the sides shaved completely to reveal a weird tattoo that circled around his head and presumably the back to.

Overall, he was average, aside from the odd haircut and tattoo choice…

"Oh my god. You're awake!"

He just stared at the 'doctor', apprehension filling him to the brim for what seemed to be for an eternity before he smiled warmly and turned to motion his hand, apparently letting someone to come in from said motion.

A second later a smaller woman came in, looking to be the same age and just as tired, but had normal hair that cascaded down to her shoulders. Unlike her partner she had a rich white glow to her hair, not old looking white but… healthy and…. White…

Okay they were both weirdos…

"Jin?" The women tugged at the mans sleeve imploringly. "What do we do now? We need to do something."

Jin sighed…

"Understood, first off, I want you to go and inform the commander right away, tell them that the boy they brought in is alive." He took a few calm, yet tentative steps towards him, getting a dead stare of a long burned out anger. "Next, come back here and check his vitals, we don't want him passing out on us again."

The woman nodded and turned to leave…

"Oh and Jun?" He called out, Jun's head quickly popped from the side of the door, an eyebrow raised in questioning. "Make the poor boy something to eat okay, he will need to try something solid sooner or later."

Another nod before her head disappeared behind the door once again. Leaving the room quiet…

The tense silence began to engulf the room, Jin pulled up a nearby chair and sat just arms reach away from the bed he laid upon. Giving him a questioning stare.

"This is where you give us your name young man..." Jin raised an eyebrow, clearly flummoxed by the lack of response…

However, the bedridden mage just stared at him, unblinking…

It was chilling, he knew it, but he didn't trst what was going on. Food? Proper food? He hadn't had even a proper bite in years, just the bare minimum to keep him alive only. If these two fakers thought they'd have him open up just like that then he'd be damned if he even spoke once.

Seeing this immense distrust, Jin sighed again. "I should have known you'd be this way. You were a mess when we found you." He stood up from his chair, the groan from said funiture making its relief know as he made his way over to him, grabbing the cover at the side, he lifted it over to give the boy a reality check..

Those metal… fucking… limbs…

Now that he wasn't in the constant dark or fighting for his life he could finally see this 'new' addition as clear as day.

The metal was bent, twisted and utterly horrible to look at. It was heavy too, his only muscles working were his biceps, only because the bastards were that heavy. With a great effort, he lifted the appendage and curled his metal fingers into a fist. He could see every dent, ever scratch and scrape that was on the surface and he could feel where his flesh ended and the metal began, it was intrusive, it felt painful and it was disproportionate to his upper arm, he could only assume it was the same story for his other.

"You seem to be unhappy with your friend there..." The dry baritone brought him from his thoughts. Jin looked at the arm instead when he saw the young man giving him a glare, trying to take his hand away from him, unfortunately his strength was non-existent, only able to drag the hand through the air before Jin caught it and began examining it, despite the weak protest from the patient. "First thing we should probably do whilst you recover is work on a new set of these limbs, we have Transmutation and Conjoiner mages around, it shouldn't be hard for them to meld it to you after they are made. Or maybe, remove the limbs altogether and teach you to make magical libs yourself."

"I'm not… a project..." The young man rasped, feeling an old annoyance resonate within him. He coughed violently after speaking, his voice still dry…

"Ah, yes! Water, of course, my apologies..." He quickly rushed out, another round of banging and clashing and the weird sounds of cats flying through windows as they smash. Luckily, the audible destruction of mankind stopped when Jin re-entered the room as if nothing happened.

In his hand, he held a cup of water, fresh, clean and lovely looking water too precious for the measly container that kept it from the floor.

The young boys mouth began to water… No matter his anger, if someone was to offer him CLEAN water he would murder a thousand for one sip now…

He tried to lift his arm, desperate for the beautiful liquid. But he could move a muscle, he had used his energy speaking and lifting his ridiculously heavy arm...

His eyes began to tear up…. He was at this guys mercy...

"You need this I take it?" Jin looked at the water, then to the patient. "I have an idea, if I give this, will you tell me your name in turn? I cannot help you if I don't even know your name, it is a great starting point son."

Jin had no time to wait, the patient nodded as much as he could with the little energy he had, within the span of a second, the young man felt pleasure he had forgotten about years ago, the pure liquid trickling down his throat and cooling his pained insides within seconds of touching the areas. The cold water felt like heaven, pure and blissful heaven.

And within seconds, his throat felt… clean, new and young! He felt great, no, amazing! He felt so great from the simple cup of water he couldn't help it…

He felt a tear begin to slip down his face…

"Thank you..."

Jin smiled, nodding and placing the empty cup down.

"That's okay. You are in clear need of intense treatment and water is the least of your needs." He grinned after he finished. "Now, I must implore you to give me your name… if you even remember..."

The fact that Jin only wanted his name, not any answers he couldn't give. That he only wanted something so inconsequential to him or his possible cause instead of something horrid or evil in return only made him seem reasonable and kind. He had expected a torture session, an interrogation and some sort of lumen histoire attempt.

Not kindness, he'd been deprived of it for so so long…

"I remember..." With that admission, he was set down a path. He motioned down to his chest, to see the blue imprint of a symbol. He looked at it with pride and a great deal of sadness, but he stood strong.

"My name is… Gray… Fullbuster..."

His journey had officially begun…

)(-)(-)(-)(

Apologies for the long wait, I really didn't expect to take so damn long with this, but it was extremely difficult to write and find inspiration for.

But a month and a half… fucking hell, kill me. Now, right here, with a noose, over a building… please?

But hey! Only one chapter to go until TRE S2!

Must be something good then right? Hahahahahgahahahahahahahaha!

Please don't leave…

Of course, your reviews are greatly appreciated and I look forward to what you all have to say about my shitty work. :D

Stay cool,

-Viperhat


	10. Chapter: 10

I hate life…. Life hates me…

It is a peaceful coexistence…

Let's read!

)(-)(-)(-)(

The weather fit the occasion as well as his mood over the past few months…

Heavy, heavy rain.

In fact anything that could be described as dull, angry, shattered and…. Grey, would have been perfect for the way the weather's sick sense of pathetic fallacy symbolised every single iota of of his being, whether it be physical, emotional or mental. It fit like the final piece of a huge puzzle.

He didn't know why he continued to come back here, was it out of some sense of duty? An attempt at normalcy. As illogical as it was? He didn't know, nor did he care to know. Or did he have no idea of whether he wanted to or not in general?

A huge clap of Thunder attempted to startle him out of his destructive and meandering thoughts, but all the angry clap achieved was a quick flash and a loud noise before it was fizzled out by the more consistent noise.

His attention was utterly fixated on the headstone in front of him, craning his neck down due to his unusual height to desperately rake his wet and dead eyes over his little sisters grave… Those certain parts of the inscription carved into the stone was without a doubt also carved into his mind and soul forever more.

 _Lisanna Strauss_

 _..._

 _Beloved Sister and Mage_

…

 _Rest In Piece_

Elfman shivered, the intense cold was really packing its own punch but no matter how much he tried to leave and go home his eyes would roughly force him back to staring into the gravestone. Everything was happening too fast for him, he simply couldn't keep up…

Nor did he want to…

First his little sister was killed by his worthless hand, next his friend who had helped through the pain had died due to a group of maniacs over seas. And after months of watching his oldest and only sister suffer the wrath of certain guild members and not involving himself due to fear and depression he suffered the final blow that had broke him, completely and utterly.

Mirajane left the guild, Magnolia…

She wasn't found at all in Magnolia, no matter where everyone looked, it was as if she pulled an Erza and disappeared completely.

It was awful. This year had been one of the worst for Fairy tail in its entire history, the atmosphere had never felt so suffocating, so broken… empty.

Not only had the two most promising members up and leave, never to be found again, but everyone had lost two bright spirits within the guild. And their disappearance showed just how different the guild was without them.

And no matter how anyone tried to put it, one thing was clear. Fairy Tail would never be the same guild it had been ever again.

Even Natsu's energetic and optimistic attitude could bring up anyone's spirits. No one would fight him anymore, no one would indulge in his antics anymore either. In the end the Dragon Slayer just started taking more jobs and had actually started doing proper training.

It had done him good, but he was starting too become the odd one out in the guild. He was a mystery to his own friends now. No one understood him anymore, even his closest friends could not understand his behaviour anymore.

He always left a bit more earlier than he used to, always claiming he was tired an needed sleep. Now, even in his depression, Elfman knew this wasn't the case, everyone had an inkling but were too wrapped up in their negativity to really see what was going on with Natsu.

He was a prime example of that…

Here he was, wallowing in self-pity, staring at a headstone thinking about how much his life sucked… He was the only Strauss left after-all.

The cold slap of rain that hit him in the eye was the thing to bring him out of his revere. Making him blink and rub his eye. He looked around his surrounding area, seeing the same dreary forest to his left and the cold and upset city to his right.

He sneezed and quickly rubbed his nose on his sleeve. Too depressed to be clean about his situation. Looking up, he could see what little light that was there above the grey and angry clouds was starting to fade out.

"Time to get home..." He sighed, his voice monotone and broken. With one last glance to the headstone he begun making his way out of the graveyard. Past the rows of headstones, past the gates and was just about to make the first crossing when his ears were drawn to a peculiar sound…

Following the direction, he looked to his left and didn't see anything, to his surprise. But the quiet and subtle crackling was unorthodox, especially during the heavy rain the city was covered in, any form of fire or hot materials would have surely simmered down or at least transitioned from crackling to sizzling.

A sneeze broke through and he lurched downward to bend over and release all of the grouped up air. Elfman groaned from the sudden force and realised that a cold was coming over him...

But then a sudden burst of heat encapsulated him and the surrounding area and the sound reminiscent of thunder clapped through the rainy atmosphere, sounding like a detonated bomb as it ripped through the Take-Over Mages auditory senses.

It wasn't usual thunder, hell it wasn't even thunder. It was too forceful and had it didn't echo out like an omnipresent roar of anger. No, it sounded more like a huge object had collided with the ground in explosive fashion…

And he had certainly not seen any meteorite or ball of mass close by…

Despite his current emotional turmoil, his inner mage won out, he wasn't going to let this go by unchecked. No matter how much he had wanted too.

He stepped away from the town, to where his lonely home was, and towards the forest, to where the unknown anomaly's lye…

)(-)(-)(-)(

"Man, what is this?..."

Elfman stood in a total stand-still...

Around him, by his own feet, were the apparent sources of the noise and heat…

He looked around the clearing, seemingly man-made, charred and very very recent. He looked at the scorch-marks and deep black holes dotted around in a seemingly unhinged frenzy and gulped. The sorrow and anger was very apparent in the lack of order, the left-over wavering heat that blanketed the area in spades was still going down but still felt near blistering and everything was burnt black…

He knew Natsu's work when he saw it…

"Natsu?" Elfman scoured the area, desperately trying to locate the Dragon Slayer that left the area in his wake like this. He had a bad feeling in his gut, as if it was telling him to go further or something terrible may happen.

For once, the Take-Over Mage followed his gut feeling…

After rummaging through the thick forests he has finally came across another opening, almost the same but with a left over blazing inferno to the left. The rain unable to reach far enough down to effectively put the fire out.

He was close by…

"Natsu!" He ran past the opening, now able to follow clear footsteps that seemed to be spacing apart slightly further. Natsu had started running.

So Elfma started running too…

"Natsu, stop!"

This time he got a response…

"Leave me alone!" Was the pleading roar he'd received. But Elfman didn't let up in his pursuit one bit, barrelling past the thick shrubbery with ease to to his size. Everything that wasn't a thick tree quickly gave way to the huge teenager as he blazed through as fast as he could, the subtle outline of his friend was visible now, the small plumes of smoke from the bushes also becoming easier to see.

He was getting closer from the looks of it. It only became clear to him when the outline became clearer, the Dragon Slayer was much faster than he was, even before the heavy training he seemed to be taking up. If Natsu really wanted to outrun him he very well could with practised ease…

So if that was the case, then why was Elfman getting closer to him?…

He cried out one more time, hoping against hope the Pinkette would stop for him.

"Please, stop man!"

That was when Natsu seemed to have snapped. Because within the space of two seconds he had let out a rage induced war-cry before pivoting on his heel and pouncing towards the Take-Over mage. Elfman let out a shocked cry as Natsu's fist collided with his face, sending him through the woods and landing in the opening from a minute ago…

Natsu had gotten strong, if by the sudden explosive pain that flared up in his cheek was anything to go by. He didn't expect to land back in the opening. The quick gleam of of his friends eyes gave him the warning he needed to avoid the next fiery fist that was headed straight towards him.

"Natsu stop!" He cried, but his plea fell on deaf ears as he was battered into the tree trunk with a resounding crack. The cry of pain seemed to stop Natsu in his tracks though, the one good thing that came out of that, but the elation of his friends' sobering was quickly wiped out of his face when the weird sensation of wetness started to pool around his mid-section…

Looking down, he quickly saw what was causing the sensation… But he really wished that he hadn't looked at all…

He didn't know what caused it, but seconds later his eyes became monstrously heavy. His head begun lulling everywhere as his consciousness began to fade.

He looked up and in one more show of consciousness he looked directly into Natsu's now teary and frightened eyes…

"Nat-… ugh… Nat...su?..."

And as he heard his friend screaming at him in terror his head fell down and he finally blacked out…

Natsu had gotten strong indeed… Too strong for even himself to control…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 hours later)

"You still haven't found her yet?" He grunted… clearly bothered by the report given to him. Laxus sighed and glared at him…

"Obviously old man. We haven't found your precious S-Class. Now go and bother someone else..." The snappish reply to the question drove Makarov up the wall. His own anger directed at his grandson starting to make it's way onto his face.

"Laxus, be respectful! You damn brat, this is serious!" He bellowed causing some of the guild-members to jump in fear. However Laxus just tutted and stalked off.

"Whatever geezer, have fun on your little search..." He drawled, stalking out of the guild hall with his newly formed Thunder Legion in tow…

The Lighting Mage left the guild, leaving its members in a deep angry state. Makarov growled and shook his head at the disrespectful grandson that was his own…

"Almost like his father..." The words left his lips so quietly he had a hard time wondering if he had even said it at all instead of just thinking it. His fear of Laxus becoming that monster was starting to over take him. Had he been that bad of a Grandfather? Or was his son just that bad that even his son was destined to be as bad as him?

Ever since Gray had been killed he had seen a quick change in Laxus, his grandson had a love-hate companionship with the ice Mage. The two stuck around each other and did plenty of missions together, but they did have their fair share of verbal duels, those of which were normally where Laxus had his best and only losses. Gray had a quick and sharp wit to him that Laxus couldn't seem to beat and it gave him something to try and beat…

Cana normally sorted them both out in the end though… Her drunken remarks normally ending whatever squabble was going on…

it was a curious friendship, but it kept Laxus in the guild and somewhat content besides his three friends in Bixslow, Evergreen and Freed. And Laxus seemed to like the two mages anyhow…

So when Gray had died it was almost as if Laxus no longer had the strength to care about anyone else but the Thunder Legion. His contented smirks left and were replaced by uncaring versions, his aggressive nature was focussed on everyone around him, calling them weak, unworthy and all of those colourful phrases that hurt everyone he spewed them on…

Just another thing that made Gray's Loss feel much more painful…

"Asshole..." Came the drunken slur from Cana. Her pretty face contorted in a drunk scowl that she aimed at the door like a sniper, she almost seemed like she was trying to burn her anger into the Lightning Mages head…

"Leave it alone Cana." Loke sighed, the playboy leaned against the bar and looked down, his flirting nature subdued and hollow. "He is just as upset and angry as you are."

"Still don't give him any right to slag the master off like that!" She snapped, a violent hiccup interrupting her rant before it started. Her steaming face showed a deep sadness that no one had ever seen on her before. "He's trying his best to find Erza and Mira and he is trying as hard as he can to keep us together after..." And she broke…

"A-after Gray..." She whispered… Tears silently streaking down her beautiful face as Loke wrapped an arm around her and brought into his chest to let her quietly sob…

The memory of her best friend still kept her locked down in her mental prison… Forever locked in the past of happier memories.

Even though she whispered it, everyone knew what she meant… The cloud of despair coated the atmosphere like a foul viscous liquid. No one was safe from it.

Then out of nowhere, the door suddenly slammed open and soaring through the searing sorrow that the guild was becoming known for was Natsu…

And in his arms was the bloody and unconscious form of Elfman…

"Elfman!" Loke turned and gasped, his eyes widening in confusion and fear… What had happened…

Of course, his reaction not only sparked various shouts and screams of horror, but also brought Cana to look over to to the scene before them both…

She stilled… and soon after… fainted…

Today just wasn't the guilds day…

)(-)(-)(-)(

"Oh god!" The short squeak of Vejeeter poured through the medical bay, where he was cleaning the final bed. But seeing Elfman stopped him in his tracks and caused him to rush over to the boys.

"Lay him down!" He pulled the covers off of the nearest bed and practically forced the distraught Natsu to lay his friend on the bed, rapidly bleeding and twitching…

"Leave it to me! Get Makarov!" Natsu hurriedly obeyed, sprinting from the bay towards the guild masters office. He didn't even bother to knock or warn his master as he slammed through the door and into his office room.

He thought that he was going to get a massive dressing down, but Gramps must have seen the look on his face and instantly left to see the commotion and what caused it…

A few seconds later he heard his his bellow, a scary thing for everyone to be there for…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 hours later)

Things were evermore intense when Vejeeter and the master threw the members out of the bay. No one knew what to say or what to do… like their beings had been frozen and unable to do ANYTHING…

But after the first hour had passed people started remembering Natsu's presence… And of course, with that came the questions..

Loke had started, asking what had happened to Elfman. Why had he been returned so broken and injured and all. Soon after Cana had been able to piece together a hole in the hypothetical fabric and asked him how he had found Elfman in such a state or was he with him by then…

question after question after question after god-damned question… Natsu couldn't take it, his shell shocked features were able to give him time as people debated asking him right away..

But he knew that they were concerned, concerned without need. But he needed the time. He was scared, how could he tell them that he had been the one to do this to the final Strauss sibling? He remembered how Mirajane was treated by the guild, the scorn, the hatred, the isolation. He didn't know how she had put up with it for so long. He knew that if he was in her situation then he would have left or ended everything before the week was done…

He needed his family, he didn't want to lose them. But to keep them was to lie and tell them that he wasn't responsible for this, emotionally charged or not it didn't matter in this case. All he had ever known was Fairy Tail, the warm, loving and carefree guild that took him in and gave him the life he had today…

He wanted to keep that, even if it meant lying to them, thus giving Elfman's fate the cold shoulder of ignorance and wilful lying...

He hated himself, but he would have to live with it, no matter how much he didn't deserve it…

"I-I found him in the forest… he was impaled and stuff on a tree trunk, looked like he was thrown into it or something… He was bleeding and I was scared..." He choked on his own hiccup after a second… "I hope he's alright..." He sniffed… "He has to be..."

Luckily, he was saved from any further scrutiny as the two mages came bursting out of the medical bay…

They looked at everyone and tried to look calm as they saw everyone's expressions…

"Is he okay?"

Silence… before Makarov responded to that particular question.

The answer, sent shock-waves that not only were felt by the guild, but were felt through out the entire globe…

)(-)(-)(-)(

I am a right cunt aren't I? :D

Do you want to know something else? I am not going to be doing another chapter of this until I get through a decent chunk of The Ripple effect. So if this cliffhanger really grates your balls then you are going to be red raw by the time I get to this again. Muahahahahaha!

Now… onto the bullshit that was the current few chapters before hand…

RANT TIME!

Now before I start I am going to say that I am probably going to get some shit for this bit…

I didn't mind Ichiya doing that to Achnologia… As long as it doesn't finish the twat off. Now I never really gave a shit about ichiya, I find Juvia to be much more horrid in all aspects than he is. But I find that Jellal surviving being crushed by the most powerful character in the series appalling at best… Mashima's devotion to a happy ending is going to fuck this series up. I am actually glad the series is ending, any-more of this sloppy bull-shit is just going to kill my will to watch this train wreck of an arc.

Lets not get started on Zeref Vs. Natsu… The most anticipated fight in all of fairy tail was so bland and boring, like Sasuke and Naruto but much more watered down and lazy… Poor logical outcomes and a one dimensional tension at best… Fucking shambles and a waste of my time and hype…

Now Mashima could make it better, just kill Juvia and Jellal… Like they should have died a long time ago. Then avoid making Natsu the guild master of Fairy Tail… That could make the arc just a little better...

Rant time over.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. If not then that's fine I am terrible. XD

Reviews are always appreciated, yet not required.

Stay fucking cool ma boi,

-Viperhat


	11. Chapter: 11

Welcome back to OP, it has been a while hasn't it. XD

Since the Reconciliation arc has been completed (after some time) it's time for another 3 or 4 chapters of this. XD

Time to scar people.

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 Months later)

It still felt extremely weird, having some meat on his body again…

Although, he did have to admit. Jin did clean him up rather well, even going as far as to make his road to recovery less hellish and a little more easier on a daily basis. He would always come in and acquaint him with everything going on.

So far, he had learned that he was in Alakitasia, which was currently under the reigns of an unknown emperor who was turning the once smaller and weak nation into a powerful empire that held influence in multiple countries around the world.

But it was a very centralised and dictatorial government, people were not happy with the emperor but nothing was able to be done.

Of course, this was all from Jin's point of view… For all Gray knew, it could just be a slightly strict government. But he was always reminded of his experience at the hands of those who (according to Jin) were in the governmental roles and those thoughts and memories always gave him the twisted clarity he wished he never had nor needed.

The screams of those that were sent into the death colosseum. The consistent torture the guards and higher ups subjected him too daily… He wasn't even sure anymore…

It was all too much to mentally bare most days, he preferred to just sit and distract himself with anything that would give a moments worth of peace. Despite the ruptured mind he had, it was good enough just knowing that after a while, he was actually safe. No more beatings, no more dismemberment, no more death colosseum, no more of THAT place.

What did confuse him though was Nano…

What happened to her? Where was she, why was she not around after all this time. Unless something genuinely kept her from doing so? Where she now? He was worried, he had no qualm with admitting that, it seemed that even after experiencing hell, all he could think about was the well-being of others.

It was all just so frustrating…

It didn't help that he was far away from his home either. Away from Magnolia and its starry skies, away from Fairy Tail, unable to let his family know that he is alive. He found out that he was an entire country away from them and wasn't happy, in fact, if he had the strength to even do so he probably would have panicked and blacked out. Yet again, another thing he was restricted from doing, something he was both grateful for whilst at the same time bitter towards.

So many things were missing, questions needed answering.

"Hello, Gray." He turned his head slightly, just enough to see Jin glide through the door in those ever encapsulating robes of his. Taking a seat next Gray as he sat down with a relieved sigh. At the inquisitive look on Gray's face, Jin grinned tiredly. "Usual thing, you know? Hard day at work. Patients are not nearly as easy to work with as you are most of the time. You my good sir, are a rare gem in my line of work."

That drew a short but soft snort from the Ice Mage. "I'm sure..."

Gray saw the doctor brush hair away from his face as he looked down to what looked like an old clipboard. Something on that board made the doctors face light up, it wasn't often the unknown contents did that to him, so today was another day of that same question.

"What's on the clipboard?"

Jin gave him an optimistic grin. "Well, you remember the first day here? You were asked by myself to chose between a new set of limbs?"

Gray nodded, looking at the limbs he had now. They were worked on, some of the sharper edges dulled or cut away completely, the heavy metal cut away at in the unnecessarily thick areas, making them lighter (if by a bit.) But they still felt cumbersome, somewhat painful and looked horrible to look at. But it was fine, it was not the end of the world, he had been taught to fully regain control of his simple motor skills with his arms at least. Given some time, he would learn to properly walk again to.

He looked back at Jin, who began to speak up yet again. "Those Mages have finally finished making your new arms and legs. I have seen them myself and trust me, my boy. You will not be disappointed with them."

The news struck Gray like lightning. They finished that quickly? If he remembered, it took Gildarts a full year just to get his new arm and leg. It only took these unknown Mages Two Months? Jin probably had a whole team of these guys just making these things. He hadn't seen them yet, but the raw idea that he had new limbs coming so soon had him feeling eternally grateful for this man.

"Give it a week and they will be here. You'll be up and learning to walk again in no time." Jin patted him on the shoulder. He looked down at his watch and the grin faded and his face turned into a full effigy of horror.

"What?" Gray asked, suddenly concerned.

"I'm late for dinner. My wife, oh she's gonna kill me!"

"Oh."

It was the one time Gray had seen the usually composed man full on sprint, he wasn't very coordinated though, almost running smack bang into the door and falling over. Jin gave him a hurried 'See you tomorrow!' before disappearing behind the doorway, closing it with a bang.

And as soon as he was sure that Jin was far enough away, Gray let out the first true chuckle in a long time…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(1 Week later)

"Today's the day, Gray." Jin smiled, looking at the Ice Mage as he tried to sit up. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"Well, don't worry. At least you are going to be able to walk again."

"I need to learn that again."

"Gray… Come on now, enough with the pessimism. Sure, you've been through a lot, but you know have the chance to get back up again. Take it with pride my boy."

Gray simply rolled his eyes. Trying not to think about what would be happening in an hour. Today he was finally going to see his new arms and legs, today he was also going to give them a test drive. The two months had been much kinder to him than the last few years had been. The potions and nutrition had not only given him an almost healthy weight, but the potions had even been able to undo some of the effects of the malnutrition He wasn't a 6ft 4inch monster, but he was sitting at a comfortable if not a bit annoying 5ft 10inches. He was fine with that, and he could feel a good deal of strength return to his body after years of deprivation.

But the idea of seeing how truly bad his skills were now scared him a little. How bad would it be? How much time will it take him to simply walk again without problems? Could he even carry on being a Mage after his time away from life?

All were completely worrying in their own way. For as nice as Jin and his wife were, he really didn't want to spend anymore time in Alakitasia than necessary. His home was with Fairy Tail, he wanted to leave. But he had to admit, Jin and Jun had grown on him.

He didn't know what he had to do.

Jin, seeing the Mages eyes look down made a turn for the bedside chair. Taking it out and turning it towards Gray before taking a seat as he always did.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just tired today."

"Gray." He sighed. "I cannot help you if you don't tell me anything now can I?"

"It's a good thing that I'm fine then."

"Okay! Okay, I understand." Jin rubbed his head, exasperation rolling off of him as he tried to settle himself down. Gray was a tricky bastard when it came to his own emotions it seemed. "If it's about the walking, you'll do fine. You made it this far after-all, no one has ever come from the place you did alive. In fact, we only managed to breach the main courtyard this once. That was progress for us."

Gray looked away. It should have been something he could lord over others. The survivor of an evil empire. But it felt hollow. He went in a growing yet beaten boy and came out as a complete and utter wreck of humanity. Still more human than machine, but a 20% percent machine to 80% Human ratio still hurt to think about. He wasn't even able to tell where he was specifically or what specific time it was either. Everything was broken, disjointed and chaotic. His brain was barely able to keep up with everything that had happened recently. Nano, the breakout, meeting Jin, the healing process and now the new limbs. Things that he couldn't see coming were slapping him right in the face, taking him by surprise, and by the time he could even begin to register what had happened something else came up and took his attention away.

"Jin, I was rescued, I didn't just magically save myself. I was too weak, not even able to stay awake from what I remember.. How could something like being rescued be a good thing for me. It doesn't prove my worth, it doesn't give me strength, it just feels like I have regressed."

Jin raised a brow. "Regressed? How?"

"I am back to being that pathetic little child I was years ago." The deep and heavy cloud of shame began to fill him, recounting the days when he was unable to comprehend anything more than Brago.

"I used to be so weak, so fragile in so many ways. People would most likely look at me and instantly feel awful, maybe pity even. I hate that feeling, whether it be by myself or by others, pity isn't something you give to people who deserve more than what they have. You sympathise, understand or at least try to and you wish them the best."

"I lost people, demon exclusive. I hate them. They are vile things, the only purpose they seem to have is to destroy. My parents died to them and all I could do was sit and watch before being trapped under stupid rubble. I couldn't fight, I couldn't defend and I couldn't help in any way. I had that power to defend after a while and lost to my own self hate. That cost another life of someone I knew."

"Then I lost it all… I lost it all because of those fucking bastards who brought me here. Left me to rot, left me to die."

The atmosphere had dropped some time ago. The temperature becoming icy and a slight mist had pooled around the ground and around Jin's feet. But Gray looked more lost than anything, he had no anger on his face, no sadness, no nothing. His voice, was full of it all. But the expression was blank as he continued on.

"I've had so much time to think. I am still trying to understand everything. But I get it, I never left Brago, not really. I have always been weak, I hate it, but I can't deny it. I may have been able to fight and defend people. But what good is that when you still end up needing to be aided?"

The doctor waited for him to continue. But apparently, whatever was let was lost. Gray gave up on himself. Like he had many times before it seemed, but Jin didn't say anything, he just let Gray stare into the metaphorical distance. But he didn't believe it was all as crystal clear as it seemed.

"Gray..."

the only response he got was a turn of the head.

"Look around us. On the floor." He smirked.

Gray did as he was ordered. Looking around and getting a sudden eyeful of a blisteringly cold wave of air from below. Almost instantly, Gray reeled back onto the bed letting out a light yelp and he looked at the grinning doctor next to him. His eyes widened.

"What?"

"Were you an Ice Mage per chance?" Jin asked, sass evident in his voice.

"Y-Yeah, but-"

"It seems to me that you haven't lost everything." The doctor quipped. "You see, Gray. Magic never truly leaves. No matter what. You could try your hardest to remove it from your very being. But never will you succeed. Everyone, no matter the amount, will always be magical. It is a gift given to us as living beings, never forget that."

Gray looked around again, watching the once thought to be lost magic swirled around him, around the room. Taking in everything and permeating the entire room. He looked back towards Jin and felt something odd, confusing yet familiar…

It felt cold in nature, but it was almost welcoming, as if it had missed him. The feeling the interaction in itself gave was powerful, it felt powerful. Everything felt like it was going to get better. That was when Gray realised what it was…

"Oh..."

"Hmm?" Jin looked at him, a questioning eyebrow raising as he stared at the Ice Mage.

"Thanks for the pep talk, doc." Gray gave him a slight grin. "Say, when do you think those new arms and legs of mine are coming along?"

Jin grinned back. His eyes twinkling as he gave Gray a cheeky look.

"Roughly ten minutes."

Confidence, slowly built inside Gray, it wasn't much, but it was much needed.

"I think I could at least try them on."

)(-)(-)(-)(

(1 hour later)

They were perfect. The new limbs were grafted, painfully, but expectedly so. It took some time to remove the shit that were the previous limbs. And these limbs were beautiful. Sleek, thick and well proportioned. The plates that were attached to Gray were no longer digging into his arms, instead, it fit and was specifically made for movement it seemed.

The joints were perfectly capable of giving movement at no expense. The sleek and detailed design seemed to reflect almost. Gray couldn't say no. These were beautiful. They were never coming off…. Ever…

"Jin?" He called out. Watching the doctor walk in slowly before looking at him and laughed.

"Gray..." He started. "You are looking much better. I can say that at least."

"I hope so." He grinned back. "I certainly feel it."

His body, whilst not as muscular as it once was. Wasn't fat either. In fact, his body was normal. He could work that out and overcome this.

"So..." Jin started. "You technically free to go now." He said, almost sad if it were not for the smile on his face. "What do you plan on doing now, if I may ask?"

"Jin?" Gray started. "I can't leave yet, but when I can, would you kindly point me in the direction of Fairy Tail?"

"Fairy Tail?"

He sighed, resignation filling him. "Okay then, Fiore..."

Jin's eyes lit up. "Ah! Yes, I do believe I can."

)(-)(-)(-)(

Welcome back to One's Perseverance.

Sorry for the wait. No excuse this time. I was just a bit lazy. But I do try. But clearly not enough…

-Viperhat


	12. Chapter: 12

Brrrraap!

)(-)(-)(-)(

(2 Months Ago)

Everything was grey…

Grey…

Why was everything still so hopelessly grey?

It was all so broken and disjointed, like so many things were being violently ripped away from his world. That oh so familiar feeling of rage began to set into the pit of his stomach again, filling him with an unknown emotion that he didn't like. It felt like he was going to suddenly turn into a monster before going on a rampage, trashing and destroying everything because it was all he could do to relieve himself of that new constant in his daily life these days.

Guilt…

He knew he was to blame… Oh he was so guilty of ruining his own happy-go-lucky world that if it could physically hurt he would have died twenty times over by now. People he knew, people he loved in fact were in great pain and stress and he was to blame. Not for everything, but he should have been able to stop those instances too…

But the main cause these days? He was so, so guilty…

"Natsu?"

He turned his head around, finally landing on the small blue cat that now had been his entire focus for the last two months. It was all he could do as he would always break down when coming face to face with the place that he was always able to call home with full confidence. It brought everything back, that day, the rage he felt, the way he lost control of himself, his hard training and his raw strength becoming a danger for the first time.

Elfman Strauss, he suffered for that. He was already suffering, having to put up with his family turning on his sister, having to put up with his younger sisters death then having to put up with his elder sister finally having enough of her treatment and leaving. Leaving just like Erza had before her…

He didn't deserve Natsu's rage on top of all that, he certainly didn't deserve to be battered around everywhere, he hadn't been training nearly as much as the new and Determined Dragon Slayer had been.

The impalement was enough to stop Natsu in his assault, but even then he was suffering…

A tear started slipping down Natsu's eye, everything was coming back up. He reached out and lightly hugged Happy, who was just as forlorn as he was, if not even more. That Exceed was always more emotional than he was and the pain must have been awful for him to deal with.

But even Happy was not enough for him, Natsu knew it. He felt everything bad in the world well up inside of him when he looked at anything that was Happy, he knew that to be the same for his family at the guild too. Every time he wanted to go up to one of them or let them spot him something in his soul would seize up, freezing his body against his will. His mind would just restrict him, no matter what he did…

It was just as well though. Being there would only cause them all just as much pain, if not too much and another accident happens.

"Happy…" He whispered. "I'm fine… I'm fine."

Happy didn't reply, for he knew it was a clear and shameless lie. But Natsu didn't particularly care anymore.

"Just get some sleep, I need to be alone tonight."

The Exceeds ears flopped downward, acknowledging the sentence and its meaning. Natsu was not ready for anything more than what he had done already. It wasn't enough, but he knew that pushing the Dragon Slayer was not a wise thing to do.

Reluctantly; Happy let go of Natsu and shuffled back to his own resting place, leaving Natsu alone once more. And as soon as he knew that Happy was no longer awake, he began to silently sob. Venting a little of the overwhelming sadness he felt, only to feel it replaced as soon as he felt any better.

The only thing he could take away from these awful years he had been given was that Gray and Lisanna were no longer suffering…

And one guarantee, one guarantee that Elfman Strauss was no longer suffering…

)(-)(-)(-)(

(3 Hours Later)

Natsu took one last look at the guild…

He was going to leave, he was going to leave the place he loved more than anything. No longer could he bare making everyone else suffer, no longer would he be the cause of anything awful to befall the guild and no longer would he himself suffer from his deeds.

He loved the guild, he loved the people, he loved Magnolia, he loved everything about the world he lived in here. But that was why he had to let it go. Sure, he knew that they would suffer his loss of him a while, but soon enough, they'd recover, they were all strong, stronger than he was. They had a fire in them, a passionate blaze that would burn as long as one of them held out and hoped.

A fire that he had been drained of…

They had an ever persistent and strong wall of Ice. Ice that would protect them all and reliably keep them all safe from whatever they faced. A wall that would always persist until the end of time as long as they held out against the bad in the world and looked towards the happier future.

Ice that had crumbled and shattered around him…

he looked at the insignia of Fairy Tail on his arm and felt the disgust rise within himself. He was doing it, leaving. Betraying in a way the very ideals that he had grown up to value and cherish. But the resolve he felt, welled back up, fighting back at those feelings that stopped him before. He wasn't going to freeze up anymore.

And so, with a heavy heart and a heavier soul, Natsu Dragneel left Magnolia and Fairy Tail behind. Hoping that one day, he could go back and no longer hold them all back from their well deserved happy ending.

)(-)(-)(-)(

"C'mon, man!" Called a man, dressed in nothing but a skin tight, yellow morph-suit with black stripes on the arms and legs. "If you keep getting any slower, we'll end up running _into_ her!"

"I hear' ya!" A Man with a ridiculous Mohawk replied back. His thick upper-class/Commoner accent making it difficult to understand. "But mate, we've been running for two whole hours and she hasn't let up a single bit! She's a monster I tell ya!"

The man in the Morph-suit growled, his partner wasn't exactly wrong either. It was only supposed to be a run-of-the-mill job from their contractors. Get inside the slums of Minstrel, steal the children of the poor, possibly the children of the Local guild too, get out and re-group in the forest near Crocus.

Of course, all had gone well, until they were sneaking out with the muffled cries of the children. They were just about out of the city when a sudden slash split one of their men in two, his body sliding apart from the waist as if she were made of butter. Then the two beside them fell to the ground, both of their heads removed from their shoulders.

The two in question were so scared, they bolted from the rest of the group, only hearing the cries of their comrades as they became mere echoes. But what became more than an echo was the clanking that their unknown attacker was causing with each footstep. They could never catch a glimpse of them though, they were simply too fast for them and the way they dispatched their team was frightening enough for them to give up on the mission at bay.

"Just shut it, and keep running!" Morph-suit yelled back. However, just as he was about to turn his head back he saw the expression of his partner go from wary and annoyed to down right terrified. That was when he suddenly tripped over something, landing face first on the grassy ground below with a painful thud.

"No!" He heard his partner scream, but as soon as he was about to look up a sudden sharp object breached the back of his skull, forever silencing him.

"Oh god..." Murmured Mohawk, pure horror seeping into his being as he finally caught a the first look of his soon to be killer. It wasn't a man, but a woman. Her scarlet hair tied at the back but with enough left out of the band on the top to drape over the left side of her face. The one dark brown eye staring through him and into his soul sent a wave of hopeless terror through him like nothing ever had. Her thick, black armour that showed almost nothing and silhouetted by the dark of night made her look like a demon than any woman he'd seen.

He stood still, waiting for her to move and cleave his head off like she had with everyone else. But she never did, she just slowly moved over to him, a malicious hatred in her eyes before roughly grabbing him and hoisting him into the air. He whimpered as he saw the long, black blade slowly unsheathe from… somewhere… Re-quip magic. Perhaps?

"Who sent you…?" Her voice, which would have sounded so clear a melodic was twisted with anger. Only leaving the force and commanding tone to it that made Mohawk want to curl up and die.

"I-I-I don't kn- Ahh!"He screamed, as the woman jerked the blade into his leg, piercing it with pathetic ease. He felt the blood from the wound slowly but surely begin to dribble down his leg.

"Don't. Lie. To me..." The She-Devil hissed, her eye flashing.

"I-I mean it!" He whimpered, feeling tears begin to well up in his eyes. "I never saw him in person, please don't kill me, please! i'm sorry…."

A sudden punch to his face stopped his meltdown quickly.

"Spare me the pity party, you scum." She growled back. "Now answer me. Where were you headed before. And don't lie, if you do, nothing will stop me from snuffing your life out like the waste you are."

That was the question he had hoped he'd never get. If he even lived through this, the boss would surely find him and kill him anyway. But this woman seemed like the king of the underworld compared to him. If he was going to die, he wanted to die painlessly, this woman wouldn't offer that.

"C-Crocus..." He whispered, his mind finally beginning to lose any sense of time, feeling or comprehension, the only thing he had could think of was surviving.

He felt the woman stiffen up, as if she had been been struck by lightning. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she sucked in an almost impeccably quiet breath.

"Where in Crocus?" She demanded quietly, shaking him slightly in the process.

"T-The Forest..."

He was let go, dropping to the floor and crying out as his dead leg snapped under the tiny amount of pressure given. He looked up to her and began to crawl away from her, but before he got any further, she spoke once more.

"If you speak of this to anyone, i'll kill you… Understand?"

He whimpered, nodding hysterically when she started point the now equipped sword at his chest.

"Get out of my sight." She hissed disdainfully. Watching with satisfaction as he began scrambling away as quick as his body would let him.

The woman then, re-quipped, slipping back into her usual Heart-Cruz armour set. Looking down at the ground, her eyes still and greatly upset. They had chosen to still keep operations going within the forest? If so, then Lahar needed to be notified as soon as she had finished the evil bastards off. They were strong, but she was stronger now, she would kill them all. Then she could finally go back to Fairy Tail, present the information she had found and finally set out to the Alverez empire…

"I'll find you, Gray..." Erza Scarlet whispered, almost like their was nothing in the world other than him.

"I'll find you..."

)(-)(-)(-)(

Now, I know some of you will not like what I have done with Erza here. That's fine. :) To be fair, I have been debating whether or not she should do this. Let me know what you thought about that. Natsu too. I understand that the things done here are rather out of left-field.

-Viperhat


	13. Chapter: 13

I suffer from Reactive Trump Derangement Syndrome.

By the way, for now Gray's story will be taking a bit of a break for a few chapters. I want to give this idea of mine a try. And to be honest, what's a good story without a little bit of risk?

Sorry if you guys liked Gray's story. But it will return, just not for a few chapters.

)(-)(-)(-)(

(1 Day Later)

It was difficult in Crocus…

Jobs were extremely difficult to come by for free-lancers. The cities huge scale and reputation for being 'The most wealthy capital in the lands' made jobs seemingly magnetize themselves towards the powerful city, however, with such a huge load and higher demand that pile becomes very small, very quickly. In fact, she found it to be nigh impossible most of the time to find a decent job worthy of taking on due to the sheer amount of other freelancers who were much more 'wanting' of the job than she was.

Her hopes yet again had been utterly crushed. The only job left on the board was not even half of what she required. Hotel Rooms were extremely lax in Crocus, however the payment was big enough to incite anyone to go out and work for a few hours a day to keep their place within them.

Mirajane fought back the urge to snarl at the board. Turning on her heel and making her way back to her hotel room. Making her way back, her eyes gazed upon the extravagant walls and disgustingly posh and pompous streets. The street lamps were coated with a rich sheet of gold, making the strong glow they cast down below look like an angel from above. The streets were perfectly tiled with carved grey bricks that had patterns, each and every brick was engraved with the same intricate pattern that made the roads and pathways look like they had their own dimensions. The nights sky held dozens and dozens of stars of different sizes and colours, making the sky resemble more of a canvass used by only the most skilled of artists.

Crocus was captivating, historical and beautifully disgusting…

She sighed, walking slowly and robotically, not a trace of any previous arrogance or confidence left in her. Her mind absently started to drift away from the utterly boring trek she was currently undergoing, hearkening back to the days before the slow spiral of despair overcame her.

She could imagine the things that could have happened after that dreadful mission she took with Erza and Gray, they could have got back to the guild in 'mostly' one piece. Mirajane would have exposed his fighting abilities to the guild, they would have caused an uproar, Natsu would have gotten jealous, Erza would have been proud. She would have probably given him a tiny bit of acknowledgement akin to respect. Things would have been good. No more pain and no more suffering around the corner.

Gray's sudden change in competency was still quite a shock, even after all these years. Granted, now they were mere shadows of what they were all capable of now. But he would have been something of legend, an S-Class in the making. He could have been something…

Could have…

A sudden moisture trickling down her face pulled her out of her day-dream. Wiping away the offending liquid made her realise how of it was actually there. What was wrong with her?

When she felt the source of the sudden invading sensation she quickly growled to herself and began briskly walking. She refused to believe that his death still held any form of emotional hold on her. Crying wouldn't solve anything, all it did was to serve the purpose of showing her how weak she truly was.

She shook her head vigorously, realising how ridiculous she was being… She didn't want to dwell on any of this any longer. Looking up, she found herself standing in front of the overly grand hotel entrance. It felt odd, she hadn't thought she had walked that far… How long had she been thinking of Gray?

"Damn it..." She sighed, a small pinching feeling welling up in her gut. "Even now I can't stop thinking about it."

Quickly, she stepped through the huge doors and briskly made her way through the clean and spacey reception hall. Without thinking, she grabbed the stamp and found her name on the days register and stamped herself back in before heading up to the top floor. It took a little bit, being all stairs, but once she reached the hallway way she took a right and came to a stop after a few seconds. Standing before the third door on the left side. Her hand mindlessly delved into her pockets to locate her keys, luckily she hadn't forgotten them this time. After fumbling for a few seconds with the door, it finally gave in and opened up to the medium sized room, full of books, drinks and stationary.

"Just how I left it, I guess."

Without changing, without, eating, even drinking. Mirajane Strauss dropped anything she had on her, crawled into bed and fell into a dull sleep.

)(-)(-)(-)(

She had finally made it back, although it wasn't much different from how it was when she left it. To be fair, she never had much of a reason to come back, but she had more than enough of a reason to never return.

Erza made certain to not let her eyes wander to the extravagant buildings and nicely dressed men and women. The city and its inhabitants were just as pretty as always. If she had to give the city some credit, it certainly knew how to present itself. The visual wonders of Crocus was more than enough to draw in even the most critical of people.

But even the prettiest of sights couldn't hide that ugly fact this city had been hiding for so long now. Even after all this time, the paper covering the story was still displayed on the Jobs Board within the city centre. The harsh reminder of the trouble in paradise that was taking place way after the initial incident. The other papers strewn around also told of the same incidents, all with different names of different kids she didn't know.

Chills ran down her spine, how long had these attacks been going on for? How frequently since her encounter with them?

From the looks of it, they seemed to occur every few months, abductions averaging out at 10 to 16 kids around the ages of 11 to 14. The amount of families ruined by those monsters was astronomical.

Erza failed to keep a low growl from escaping her lips. She saw a few of the people around her jump back or simply back away from her immediate vicinity. Her mind scoffed at them, if she was scarier than those evil people then they deserved to lose their kids…

Her eyes widened slightly… Did she really just think that? Did she mean that too?

This place was bad for her…

It was one thing to believe in ones cowardice being a huge fault. But did they really deserve such consequences for that fault? It wasn't like they were actively trying to protect these attackers after-all, they were just not used to her way of life, the life of a Fairy Tail.

If she could even call herself one anymore. She must have visited the guild 10 times over the past 5 years. Not talking to anyone, certainly not Mirajane. If she ever saw her again, she didn't know what she would do to her. It was her fault after-all. Of course, Gray had run into the forest, but Mirajane had been the one to drive into doing so.

Erza shook her head suddenly. This was not a healthy train of thought, never was, nor would it ever be. She was here for a reason, she had a goal. She didn't know how long she'd be here for, but she would know when she was needed elsewhere.

Right now, all she needed to do was check in for the night, a hotel would do lovely, but she wasn't against sleeping outside again.

Trudging through the streets, the red-headed warrior took notice of the boarded up windows and doors, the doors that had some nondescript symbol on them. Her gaze followed those near to it, giving the symbol and its residence a wide birth, even trying to speed up to remove themselves from the general vicinity, whether it was from her or the symbols meaning, she didn't know.

However, her analysis of the general area gave her the sight she wanted to see.

"There we go." Erza swivelled, doing a perfect 90 degree turn before bee-lining for the hotel. It was quick progress, she was inside before she could even catch up. She didn't requip into her Heart Kreuz armour, she rather liked her purgatory set, it gave her power, she felt it.

"Excuse me, miss?"

She looked over, her eyes settling on a short, petite woman.

' _Probably the receptionist.'_

The rest of was easy enough…

)(-)(-)(-)(

This isn't much of an interesting chapter, but it does set up the next few chapters kind of nicely, I believe.

Sorry for the wait, got really sick, I think most of England has the problem, flu things.

So, criticise, praise, opinions. Give'em. XD I love'em…

Thanks for reading-

-Viperhat


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